


A Girl on a Mission

by WorldPeace9696



Category: Real Person Fiction, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: BTS has eight members, Bon Voyage (BTS), Cute Jeon Jungkook, Dating life as an idol, Developing Relationship, F/M, Female BTS member, First Kiss, First Love, Idol Jeon Jungkook, Jungkook is no longer just a boy, Original character is a lucky girl, Probably first everything, RPF, Social Anxiety, kpop, manly jungkook
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2019-12-30 11:46:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 55,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18314690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WorldPeace9696/pseuds/WorldPeace9696
Summary: What if BTS had an extra member and that member was a girl? Jessie Kim is known by ARMYs to be shy and cute in person, but bold and charismatic when she's on stage. As the second maknae of the group, she has always been adored by the older members who treat her like she's their real little sister. The best part about being a maknae is that she's the same age as Jungkook, who is basically her best friend. Together they laugh and argue just as friends do, but as time passes, she realizes how much Jungkook has grown. He's no longer just a baby; he's a man—although he still looks and behaves like a cute baby at times. So what happens when one day she discovers that she has completely fallen for someone that she can't have? With dating between K-pop idols being a controversial topic, she tries to cower away from her feelings... But it won't be long until someone finds out.





	1. The Beginning

Jessie had never thought of herself as a special girl, nor did she ever think that she would become one in the future. In fact, even as a third-year trainee, she felt totally out of place in between the other girls she practiced with. They were always much more confident than she was, fitting easily with every cute and pretty girl group concept there was to exist. Yet, she on the other hand, didn't fit any of those concepts—no matter how hard she tried. This could be proven by how her dance teacher always pointed out that her moves weren't feminine enough compared to the other girls. 

Although Jessie was friends with some of the other trainees, most of the girls were too competitive to give her tips or to help her out with the choreography. It seemed like the only time they approached her was when they needed to practice English, since she was the only one who was fluent.

Standing at 167 cm, the girl's height was deemed quite ideal to be included as a member in any girl group. She also had natural double eyelids, which entertainment companies usually cherished, but her double eyelids often went unnoticed since the creases lined up too closely to her eyes. To take a quick glance at her, one would think that she was decently tall for a Korean female, but other than that, her face was truthfully average.

When it came to her musical talent, she was an eight out of ten. She was a good singer—her voice was smooth like velvet and it wasn't too high pitched nor was it too low. Yet, she was quiet, fearing that her voice would crack if she attempted to sing the high notes. She would stick with using her head voice instead in order to avoid the risk. Overall, the other trainees had the advantage over her. 

And so, Jessie often questioned herself. Would she ever be able to debut? Would that day even arrive?

As each of her fellow trainees left the company one by one, she couldn't help but think that soon, her dreams would be totally crushed.

But when Producer Bang called her into his office on the ninth of January 2013, she realized that maybe—just maybe—she was a little bit special. The only reason why she thought so was because all of a sudden, she was being given the chance to debut as the only female member of Big Hit Entertainment's new K-pop group with seven other boys.

She felt like she was stuck in a dream that seemed way too good to be true. This didn't feel real at all, yet here she was sitting across from Bang Shihyuk as he discussed his future plans with her.

"Me?" she stammered, still overcome with surprise.

He nodded before leaning back into his chair as he folded his hands together and rested them over his stomach. "I'm sure that you're already aware, but my management team and I are currently in the process of eliminating our female trainees."

She nodded back. Of course she already knew. Many of her friends that she had made during her three years of training were slowly leaving one by one. The reason? One of the members of Big Hit Entertainment's girl group—now former group—had blackmailed the famous actor, Lee Byunghun, for five billion won with her model friend.

Jessie didn't really understand how that scandal could have had any direct issues relating to the other female trainees at the company, but Mr. Bang was in charge and everyone would have to accept his wishes. After all, he was a smart and genuine person. Maybe the truth was that he didn't want to have to deal with anything like that ever again, or maybe he thought that doing this was the best way to divert the criticism away from his company.

"I want to make sure that every female trainee who is leaving my company is getting the opportunity to continue from where they left off, meaning that I am trying to transfer them to other companies. Some of our trainees have already been accepted by JYP. Others, we're still working on with smaller companies. Now with you, it's a different story since I would like to have you stay here at Big Hit."

"During the monthly evaluations, I noticed that your voice has potential to carry a perfect tone, but it only appears when you're singing notes from a lower range."

Jessie nodded along, knowing exactly what he meant. That had been one of the main reasons why she had always been lacking in vocals compared to the other girls during evaluations.

"If I can be frank with you, I think that your voice suits songs that are intended to be sung in the male key and I mean that in the best way possible. That is your comfortable range. As for your dancing, you seem to enjoy hip hop a lot. The choreography that the boys are learning right now is exactly that." He paused to smile at her and that made her relax. Even though he was a nice person, he was well-respected and she was nervous to be talking with him about something so big. "This new group is going to be a special group with a special message. I want this group to spread inspiration around the entire world without boundaries."

He spent a few minutes describing who the other members were, what their positions were, and what kind of music they were expected to release. Big Hit Entertainment wasn't a large company, but the girls and boys had always been trained separately. Therefore, she didn't really know many of the male trainees there. 

"So what do you think?" he asked.

Jessie felt like her emotions were jumbled. She was certainly honored to be chosen to be a part of this rare opportunity and she was excited, but she also doubted herself. As if he knew what she was thinking, Producer Bang continued.

"You'll be like a role model for girls out there who are scared to chase after their dreams. On top of that, you'll show everyone that girls in fact can do what boys do."

The way he described her potential role within the group suddenly made it clear for her. She wanted to join the group.

Jessie finally smiled. Now that she had heard his explanation, she felt more eager about the idea. The difficulties that would come with it completely left her mind at that moment.

"So are you interested?"

She nodded. "Yes, PD-nim. I am."

The only dream that she had was to become a K-pop idol and if this was the way, so be it.

"Great," he replied as he gave her a satisfied expression. "Now, I have to warn you. This won't be easy. You'll have to practice even harder than you did before in order to keep up with the boys in dance practice, but you've been a trainee for three years. I think that you'll be able to do it, right?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Yes, I can."

* * *

Being a minor, Jessie had to ask her parents for permission to officially join the group. Her dad wasn't the type to ever say no—he was the type to say "ask your mom," so of course the decision had been left up to her mother. At first, her mom had been severely against the idea of her joining the group, feeling concerned that with her young daughter constantly being surrounded by boys, something  _bad_ would inevitably happen. But Producer Bang had promised her that he would take care of Jessie, to keep her in a separate room when it came to sleeping situations, and to add a female manager to the team so that the young girl would be able to feel comfortable at all times. So eventually, though reluctant, her mom agreed to let her into the group.

It was then that the group's name officially changed from "Bangtan Sonyeondan" to BTS since if Jessie was added as a member, the group would no longer consist of only boys. Yet, they would continue to stick with the word 'Bangtan' for their group, meaning "bulletproof" in Korean as their source. Apparently, the English acronym for BTS would eventually stand for something—Beyond the Scene. 

Like Producer Bang had warned her, the transition from being a female trainee who was practicing to be in a girl group to becoming a member of BTS was extremely difficult. The dances that the boys learned were much more intensive and her muscles were aching all over during the first week of practice. It didn't help that she still felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable around the seven boys whom she barely knew. 

She did sort of know them in the sense that she had seen them around the company, but they had never really talked. But slowly week by week, she grew accustomed to each of their personalities and they did the same with her, resulting in them becoming close.

There was Namjoon, the one who was designated to be the leader of the group, and he was always supportive. He said many things that made her appreciate the smallest things that happened and overall, he maintained the balance in the entire group, helping everyone overcome their fears and lack of confidence.

There was Seokjin, the oldest, and he was nice too. He worked hard to keep up with the dance moves and his willingness to stay up all night to practice motivated Jessie to strive for improvement too. Together, they often went over the choreography again and again with the help of Hoseok, the main dancer. To describe Hoseok, one would have to compare him to a bright sun that never failed to provide energy. Although he could be a little intimidating during dance practice since he was so serious about it, no matter how hard it was, he would be there to make her laugh and smile afterwards.

Next, there was Yoongi. Her first encounter with him had been when he had gotten her pain relieving patches from the nearest convenience store when he found her silently writhing in discomfort. She knew then that under his cold looks, he was truly a kind person. He often didn't let loose, joining in on the fun with the rest of the members only every once in a while, but everyone had a story. She didn't know what it was exactly, but she understood that with him, he sometimes preferred being alone.

On the other hand, Jimin and Taehyung who were the two 95 liners of the group, were inseparable and often acted as the mischievous duo. They would get her to join in on the silliest games. At times, she would find herself playing along with Taehyung's random acting situations where he would start talking like a character from a drama or movie, which had puzzled her the very first time. Now, it seemed almost normal, allowing her to step a little more further out of her comfort zone. Although she would definitely consider every member to be very kind, Jimin seemed to be the most caring and understanding. To her, he was like an older brother that she had never had.

Jessie was the closest with Jungkook, the maknae of the group because they were the same age. Having been born on January 6th, 1997, she could be classified as being the same age as 96 liners in Korea and be considered a year older than Jungkook even though she had been born only eight months before him. Being Korean, but brought up as an American, at first she hadn't realized why the age thing was such a big deal. But then Jungkook himself had explained to her that since she would be talking without honorifics with her 96 liner friends, it would be weird if a 97 liner would talk to her as if they were the same age. He proceeded to tell her that he would call her 'noona,' but she told him not to do so. For  _her_ , it'd be weird for someone only eight months younger than she was to call her 'noona.' And so, that was how they became friends and Jessie felt that she had made the right decision. After all, she needed at least one friend within the group with the others being older than her.

"Okay. Enough messing around, guys. Bang PD-nim will be here soon. Let's get ready to show him what you've prepared," Sungdeuk, who was Big Hit Entertainment's performance director and BTS' dance teacher, said as he stood up to adjust the chairs in the dance studio.

A few minutes later, the eight members performed their choreography for their upcoming tracks "We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2" and "No More Dream" in front of Shihyuk. The sound editor hadn't finished mixing the tracks yet, so the demo version was being played. They couldn't help but cringe at some parts where the vocals, raps, and harmonies sounded awkward, since the songs weren't finished. Nonetheless, they tried their best to perform as if they were standing on a real stage.

" _To all the youngsters without dreams,_ " Namjoon finished the last line of "No More Dream" as the members posed together at the center of the floor.

Sungdeuk quickly ran back over to the computer to pause the track before it could blast the playlist of only two songs all over again. Meanwhile, Shihyuk nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Good," he stated with a satisfied smile. He was the type of person who looked intimidating at first, but was funny and kind once someone really got to know him. "You guys are much more synchronized compared to the last time I saw you. Jin, you also look much more confident."

"Thank you, PD-nim," Jin responded as he quickly did a ninety degree bow.

"Now my question to Sungdeuk is... What happened to the part with the abs?"

Immediately, everyone in the room knew what he was talking about. There was a part in "We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2" during Jungkook's rap where the members lifted their shirts briefly. However, he wasn't talking about that. He was talking about "No More Dream," where there was a part during the second chorus where all eight members would once again have to lift their shirts for the "la la la la la" part. This time, it would be a significant moment since the part lasted way more than just a quick second.

"The kids and I talked about this recently and we came to an agreement that having everyone lifting their shirts up would seem a little too much."

"Too much?" Shihyuk repeated, with a raised eyebrow before chuckling. "Yes, I was being a little too greedy about that. All right then. Let's have only Jimin lift his shirt up like you did just now. He's in the center and I think it looks better like that anyway. Sorry, Jimin. I know it takes a lot of work to maintain the abs."

"It's all right, PD-nim. I can do it!"

"Jimin, the fans are going to be all over you," Hoseok said with encouragement as he wrapped his arm over Jimin's shoulders.

Jessie watched from afar as she sipped from her cup of cold water. She was glad that Jimin looked so confident with where he was now in that exact moment, since she was aware of how self-conscious he could be about his weight and physical appearance. He looked happy now and she wished that she could feel the same way with her own body. 

Preparing for her debut with the boys had caused her to become physically more in shape. She had been taken by surprise the other day when she had gotten a good look at herself after getting out of the shower, noticing that she was starting to develop abs. Yet, she still didn't feel comfortable or confident enough to show off her stomach. Unbeknownst to her, Jimin wasn't a hundred percent confident either.

* * *

On July 11, 2013, the "No More Dream" music video was available to watch on YouTube and on that same day the official profiles of each of the members were released. Unsurprisingly, the most viewed profile page was Jessie's whether it was for supportive or negative reasons.

 **Stage Name:**  Jessie

 **Birth Name:**  Jessica Kim

 **Date of Birth** : 1997. 01. 06

 **Nationality** : Korean-American

 **Height:**  167 cm

 **Blood Type** : A

Eventually by evening, BTS was ranked first on Naver's search from the many discussions held by netizens on the website's forums about whether or not it was acceptable for a girl to be in an idol group with seven other boys. The whole idea seemed outrageous to the netizens. Many of them had various predictions, but the most common one seemed to be that she would end up dating one of the members or maybe more than one, causing them to disband. However, Big Hit Entertainment had already released an official statement regarding that issue, that all of the members considered her as just a sister and that nothing like that would ever get in the way of their music. Still, it would take time for the reactions to calm down.

On the other hand, some netizens complimented Bang Shihyuk for his never-done-before marketing strategy. Certainly, this was big news—an eight member K-pop group with seven boys and one girl. Although many claimed to be critical of the idea, they were secretly anticipating what the group would bring forth to the Korean music industry.

Big Hit Entertainment was experimenting, finding ways to connect with real world people and they were being smart. By creating a YouTube channel called BANGTANTV, the company would upload behind the scenes footage of the members in clips called "Bangtan Bombs." Through that, they planned on attracting more fans, including the international ones. Twitter would also be used for the members to engage closely with their fans. Overall, what other entertainment companies didn't allow was what Big Hit was allowing their artists to do and it was because Bang Shihyuk believed in the BTS members. He had picked them individually after careful discussions with the vocal and dance trainers along with several interviews within the groups of trainees. These eight people were humble and genuine and that was what he had wanted all along. He believed in them. They were the perfect formula for success.

* * *

 Being with the boys pretty much 24/7 influenced Jessie to wear big clothing—oversized t-shirts, hoodies, and sweatpants on a normal basis. They were quite comfortable because she never had to worry about what her body looked like. The clothes that she had to wear for the "No More Dream" concept were similar, but she wasn't so sure about how she felt about them. It felt like the stylists were trying too hard to give them  _swag_.

To match the other members, Jessie's stylist had her wear a huge black short sleeved shirt with white long sleeves on the inside. Her shorts were also black and oversized, ending just a little above her knees. For the majority of the time, she wore a matching black beanie over her long straightened hair. She didn't understand why so much work had to go into styling her hair before every performance when it just got covered by the beanie anyway, but it had to be done. As for the makeup, there was some strong eyeliner going on for not just her, but all of the members except for Namjoon who wore sunglasses on stage. It seemed funny for Jessie seeing her members looking so intimidating with their stage outfits on when in reality, they were just a group of sweet guys.

As the members got off their debut stage of their first music show appearance, they appeared exhausted from using all of their energy to show their best sides.

Jessie's shoulders were sagged down in disappointment from her unsatisfying performance. She had been too out of breath to sing her entire part without having to lip sync towards the end. The first part of the chorus had been the only part that was really in control. She was now worried that she would receive backlash and bring down the rest of the members with her.

"It's okay. You did really well," Jimin assured the young girl as she nodded, though she still seemed disappointed after hearing his words.

"Thanks, oppa," she said with a small nod.

She took off her beanie and flinched in pain when it got caught on the bobby pins that had kept it in place the whole time. She had forgotten about them again. Jimin, who was walking behind her, immediately helped her take them all out. She took the pins and the beanie from his hands and thanked him again once he was finished. He responded by giving her his eye smile that could turn any shitty day into a good one.

Her head felt damp from sweat and she could feel drops of it sliding down the sides of her face. As she entered the dressing room, she caught a reflection of herself in one of the mirrors. Her black hair definitely looked like a mess.

Later, as the members headed out of the music station building, they encountered other idols. Jessie still couldn't get used to the idea of performing on music shows, sharing the same stage with famous idols that she looked up to and occasionally seeing them on her way to the bathroom and back. Yet, this was somehow reality and although she was happy with where she was, the pressure to do well overwhelmed her.

* * *

The van remained silent as Eunha, BTS' female manager, drove Jessie, Jungkook, Jimin, and Taehyung back to the dorm. The other members were in the other van with one of their other managers, Sejin. It was now dark outside, nearing midnight for them after their schedule had ended, and the members in the van were all asleep except for Jessie.

She stared at her phone screen. Her mom had finally replied to her message from the day before. Jessie didn't need someone to tell her the truth because she was already aware of the fact that her mom wasn't as excited about her debut as she was simply because her mom wanted nothing more than for her to live a "normal, stable life."

With her lack of interest in her now idol career, she wasn't even sure if her mom had seen the "No More Dream" music video or "We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2." Jessie had a feeling that she hadn't because instead of mentioning the videos, there was a short text about telling her to take care of her health. That was it. She knew that her mom cared about her, but sometimes it didn't feel like it at all. However, she understood. Jessie had given up her education to pursue music and by letting her go to Korea to become a trainee, her mom had already supported her dream. There was nothing else that she could really expect. After all, her mom's dream for her had been to send her off to a nice university and become someone important.

"Guys! We're home," Eunha said loudly and the boys abruptly woke up. She knew the tricks now.

To Jessie, it felt weird that to her that home was now the BTS dorm. She had been living with her aunt, who was her mom's younger sister, and her cousin for three years while being a trainee. She had grown close to them during that time and they had treated her so well. She missed them a lot, but she was able to message them between breaks every so often. She probably contacted them more than she contacted her own family, but her aunt and cousin were genuinely interested. They were proud that she had debuted.

By losing a game of rock, paper, scissors, Jessie found herself waiting to be the last person to take a shower. To make sure that she didn't fall asleep, she sat in the living room couch, continuing to occupy herself with her phone. As a form of habit, she went to Naver to see what the latest news was. She hadn't expected to see her mentioned in so many pages.

"Hey. What are you up to?" Jungkook stepped into the living room wearing a fresh change of clothes, his hair still wet from the shower. 

"Um, nothing really. Boring stuff."

"Then why are you hiding it?" He took her phone from out of her hands as she protested and looked at what she had been viewing. He saw the name of the article and immediately frowned.

"BTS' Jessie and Her Rude Personality."

The article mentioned the reactions of the netizens who had noticed the unpleasant facial expressions that Jessie had been making on TV. 

 _yuyu3044:_ Look at her legs! No wonder she didn't debut in a girl group

 _song5593:_ i would have thought that she was one of the boys if i had just seen her legs tbh

 _ryuu8396:_ Is something wrong with her?! why does she look so bitchy??? Omg so ungrateful

 _taen5321:_ @ryuu8396 I agree. She looks like such a bitch and she has no talent. BTS could do much better without her.

 _hana1134:_ She thinks shes so special but there isnt anything special about her. Her face isnt even the celebrity type

Jungkook could no longer read the comments as the phone was taken out of his hands. "I told you it was nothing," she cried, obviously upset.

He froze. He hadn't meant to make her  _cry._ He had just been genuinely curious about what she had been watching. Suddenly, he didn't know how to react in this situation. He hadn't known that she had been receiving so much hate.

"Jeon Jungkook. What did you do now?" Jimin questioned in a joking tone, but became completely serious when he saw that Jessie was crying. He had only stepped out into the living room thinking that the two maknaes were bickering again over something unimportant like sharing their favorite snack. "What happened? What's wrong?" He wrapped an arm her shoulder and she naturally pressed her face into his chest, bawling now.

"I'm sorry," Jungkook apologized, feeling awkward for making a girl cry. He hadn't done that before. "I didn't know."

Taehyung and Namjoon came into the living room too from hearing the commotion.

"What happened?" Namjoon asked to which Jimin shook his head with a concerned expression. He didn't know either. Only Jungkook did. "Jungkook?"

Jungkook shook his head this time, not feeling like it was his place to tell what happened.

Jessie held back the shudder that threatened to flow through her from crying too hard. "People absolutely hate me," she confessed. "I can handle the part about them talking about my legs because I know they are muscular and if they don't like my face, then so what? But I feel terrible about being called... called a bitch. I tried my best to look friendly and open, but it was tough. Talking in public has never been my forte. It's not my fault that I..."

... _have social anxiety._

Namjoon understood where this was coming from. Jessie was quite introverted around people she was unfamiliar with and she had mentioned that she would prefer not to talk too much during interviews. Her nervousness had probably translated into a unfriendly face on television and now people were misunderstanding her and taking it as an issue to criticize her.

The leader took a seat on the wooden floor in front of the couch and Taehyung followed him. "Is that what's been going on?" he asked in a soft voice, careful not to make her even more upset. She gave him a small nod as Jimin rubbed circles in her back to sooth her. "Well, you're right because it's not your fault. It's not your fault  _at all_. You're just being yourself and that's completely fine. The haters are the ones who are in the wrong. Remember: good always wins over evil. Right? You just have to give them some time. They'll realize that they're misunderstanding you. When people witness something different for the first time, they usually tend to not like it, especially when it is out of the norm. But we'll prove to them that being different and unique shouldn't always be frowned upon."

"Namjoon hyung is right," Taehyung added. "And you know what? These haters don't mean anything. Remember, we have our true fans who will support us no matter what. You already have so many people who like you, so don't worry. They know you're really cool."

Jimin, who had been reading the comments on Jessie's phone, voiced his opinion. "What nonsense are they saying anyway though? Our maknae has prettier legs than all the girl group members combined!"

His puffed up chest and serious, yet angry expression caused Jessie to laugh and the boys finally lightened up, relieved that she wasn't as distressed as she had been before. They all had their insecurities and that was the truth. They just had to find ways to stay confident. After all, they were now K-pop idols and they were always going to be under the public eye. They would have to keep close and support each other no matter what they encountered.

"Jessie, we wouldn't be BTS without you," Jungkook added and Jessie couldn't help but crack a smile at his touching words.

Suddenly, Jessie was attacked by a group hug and it was the greatest feeling. Yes, the stress of worrying about keeping up with the boys had consumed her and she had let it blind her sight, allowing the haters get to her. But she realized at this exact moment, that she had the best kind of support behind her.

Her BTS members. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scandal involving Glam—Big Hit Entertainment’s girl group—occurred in 2014, but for the purpose of this story it will have happened earlier. If you are not aware of what this scandal is, I can provide you with a brief explanation (though you will find more accurate and detailed information on the Internet). Basically, Glam was Big Hit’s four member girl group. One of the members blackmailed the actor, Lee Byunghun with her model friend and it created this huge scandal in South Korea when it happened. From then on, it seems to be that Big Hit Entertainment has chosen to no longer take in female trainees. I guess it sort of makes sense why, but then not at the same time since it’s only the fault of one member and not all girls are the same. However, it’s all up to Mr. Bang himself in the end, so I’ll leave it at that. 
> 
> Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I will try my best to follow the actual timeline of BTS, but I might accidentally make some minor mistakes or I may create changes (I’d be a stalker if I knew every single thing about them, which I don’t). Also, this first chapter along with the next one or two will cover a span of time from predebut BTS until 2016, where my actual storyline will start to progress. So this first chapter was more like an overview of how my OC fits into the group as the only girl (very unrealistic but a fun idea to play with).
> 
> Comments are always appreciated! :)


	2. By Her Side

What Namjoon had said to Jessie was right because by the time BTS made a comeback with their song “N.O.” in September, people were much more accepting and supportive about their group and this included her. Apparently, they liked that the group’s bold message blatantly criticized the Korean school system. Similarly, they thought that adding a female member to the group was like a form of rebellion to K-pop—a parallel to some real world issues that the youth were facing.

The first few months after BTS’ debut had been difficult for Jessie because she was followed by so much hate, but her life was starting to get better. From watching the behind the scenes footage on YouTube, their fans—ARMY, could tell that Jessie was truly like a sister or a friend to the members. Although it didn’t seem justifiable, it was inevitable for the majority of K-pop fans to want nothing but their favorite idols to remain single.

Confirming that Jessie wasn’t a threat to them helped the fans open up to her. Now, they couldn’t imagine her being anyone else other than a sibling to the other members. Not after seeing how Jessie and Jungkook had reacted during the “Beautiful” music video shoot where they had to hold hands. The behind the scenes footage for that moment had been quite hilarious. The older members had already fallen onto the floor laughing when the director yelled, “Cut” because the two maknaes had disgusted expressions on their faces instead of looking like they were experiencing ‘love.’

“You guys are too much,” Namjoon had told them as he shook his head at their immaturity.

But back in 2013, the maknaes had been quite young. They didn’t realize then that their friendship could ever turn into something else.

In April of 2014, “Boy in Luv” was released and it felt more like an obvious success compared to their previous songs. Jessie had a feeling that it was greatly due to Taehyung’s powerful stage presence. Of course every member could conquer the stage, but in this specific song, Taehyung owned it.

It made sense why the fan chants were so much louder this comeback. They had gained more fans and this became more apparent when they attended their fanmeet.

Jessie felt more confident around the fans now that she was welcomed by them. She understood why the fans would’ve felt threatened with her being around the boys pretty much 24/7. Male idols were like boyfriends and female idols were like girlfriends to the fans. That was just the way it was within the K-pop music culture and of course that was why it was considered to be a scandal whenever an idol was caught dating. It was more complex and detailed than that for sure, but this was the simple way to attempt to even understand what went on in the fans’ minds.

Overall, ARMY seemed to have positive views of Jessie. After several interviews had been released, the fans understood that the girl wasn’t ‘bitchy’ at all. She was just shy and many of them liked that about her because it seemed so relatable. There were many out there who were afraid of public speaking and normally, celebrities didn’t appear to have that fear or they hid it quite well. Jessie, on the other hand, had decided to become more open about her personal issues of facing social anxiety and surprisingly, it had turned out positively for her. At first, the idea of revealing her struggles to the public sounded like something that would make her vulnerable, but it was actually helping her grow stronger.

She saw more people defending her in the comments section on social media platforms and she often heard supportive messages from her fans whenever she saw them in person. Also, appearing on music shows, interviews, and performing frequently in front of large groups of people was something that she was getting used to. She was happy to realize that she was starting to feel more confident.

The girl that Jessie had been talking to gave her a final smile as she took the album back into her hands. “Jessie, you’re so pretty!”

Jessie smiled back, thanking her before saying, “Thank you. So are you!”

The girl beamed in response. “Thanks, Jessie. Take care!”

“Thanks. You too! I’ll see you soon,” Jessie said with a wave.

Next, a boy who appeared to be around her age, if not younger approached the stage.

“Hello,” she greeted him.

“H-hi,” he said, nervously.

“What’s your name?”

“Song. Woo. Joo,” he said, separating each syllable like many did so that their names could be written correctly.

“Song Woojoo,” she repeated out loud as she wrote his name on the album page. She was careful to write clearly, especially since she had to write in Korean. She signed the page before handing the album back to him. “What year were you born in?”

“98.”

“Oh, so I’m your noona,” she stated with a smile to make him feel more comfortable.

He nodded, trying his best to smile too. “May I ask you a question?”

“Sure!” She nodded enthusiastically.

“When did you realize what your dream was and that you wanted to pursue it?”

“Hm…” She thought back to her childhood. “I always liked singing and dancing, even as a little kid. I guess it was around fourth grade when I decided that I wanted to become an idol. I auditioned the next year… Do you have a dream?”

“AEECH!”

Jessie jumped in her seat just a little as she glanced to her right and saw the group member who was the source of the loud sneeze pretending like he hadn’t just let out that roaring sound. She shook her head with a silly smile as she heard ARMY giggling. She faced Woojoo again.

“Uh… Yeah,” he answered, recovering from the unexpected interruption. “I like photography and I guess one day, I would like to make that my career… but my parents would kill me.”

“Well, maybe you could take photos as a hobby for now and build a collage. You could use it to impress your parents and eventually, they could support your dream.”

Sejin leaned forward to say that it was time to move the line over her shoulder. Jessie wished that she could spend a little more time with her fans. It seemed like the conversations were always getting cut off when it was starting to get good, but fanmeets weren’t exactly held to have long conversations.

“I’ll see you next time?” Jessie winked.

“Yes. Thank you, noona,” he finally smiled.

_Song Woojoo._

She would try her best to remember him for the next time she saw him. Oh, and the previous girl, Minyoung too. Maybe it would be impossible to remember every fan’s name, but at least she could try and recognize their faces. After all, each one of them were important to her and remembering them would be meaningful for the fans in return.

After the fanmeet, the members headed over to the MBC building to film _Weekly Idol._ Jessie was extremely nervous because this was the first time that they were appearing on a televised variety program. This wasn’t their own reality show and it wasn’t a music show either so there was less familiarity. On _Weekly Idol,_ the guests were supposed to promote themselves and their music, but they were also expected to show off their charms. She had no clue as to what she should say or do.

As the filming progressed, Jessie couldn’t stop herself from feeling uncomfortable with the two MCs’ half serious half joking attitudes. She knew that they were just playing around, but that didn’t really help her become any less uncomfortable. It seemed like every time there was a chance for her to speak, she would miss out on the opportunity by being unable to come up with something goofy or funny and the MCs would move on. She had never realized how difficult variety shows could be until now.

After the introduction segment, the next part was the random play activity. For Jessie, “Boy in Luv’ was different because her part in the song was only during the bridge where her lines acted as a response to the boys’ lines and that would be when she would appear on stage. Therefore, she had less involvement in the game. She had a feeling that when the actual episode was revealed on broadcast later, she would barely see herself getting screen time. She just couldn’t figure out how to be funny or entertaining.

“It says here that Jungkook is good at the Girls’ Day Something dance. Shall we see it?” the MC, Hyungdon asked.

“Oh, and since it’s a girl group dance, we should have the one and only Jessie join with him,” Defconn suggested.

Jungkook and Jessie nervously looked at each other before standing in the center, waiting for the music.

“Music start.”

The chorus began to play and the two maknaes danced to it, both quite synchronized from having had done it so many times. Jungkook’s face was purposely expressive, which made the MCs laugh.

Once they finished, Jungkook reached out his hand towards her and Jessie high fived him before sitting back down.

“Wow!” the members applauded, reacting as if this had been the first time they had seen them dancing to “Something.”

“You two are great dancers,” Defconn complimented.

Hyungdon agreed. “Seeing Jessie dancing to a girl group song reminded me that she is a girl.”

The other BTS members smiled in response, but were unsure what to say to a comment like that. They knew he meant it in a good way, but it was still a strange thing to say.

Jessie wasn’t offended by his comment though. Instead, she felt like it was a compliment since she had always heard that she lacked the feminine quality of girl group dances in her trainee days. Now that she was in BTS, she didn’t really have the opportunity to show that side of her.

People often seemed to forget, but she was still a girl.

“She’s very talented,” Yoongi said to make the reaction to the MC’s comment a little more natural. “She can dance really well to _both_ girl group songs and boy group songs.”

He had her back.

* * *

 The next few weeks became busy and flew by very quickly. BTS, while in LA, wrapped up the filming of their show called _American Hustle Life_ where lots of funny and crazy things had happened. Most likely all moments would be aired for the fans to see _—_ even the moment Namjoon had mentioned that something was dangling when he had tried twerking.

At the same time, the BTS members were preparing for their upcoming album, KCON performance, and first tour. The day before BTS was scheduled to perform at KCON, Jessie spent the night at her home with her family while the other members stayed at their hotel. Her managers had been nice enough to let her spend time with her parents and sister while she was there in LA, even when Irvine wasn’t that short of a drive. She hadn’t been able to see them in person ever since the summer of 2012. The only way they had been catching up had been through video calls and those didn’t happen often. Therefore, she was nothing but grateful.

“You’ve lost a lot of weight. Are you eating well?”

Jessie nodded at her mother’s question. She certainly had gotten a little thinner, but that was what happened when you trained every day. Besides, with the intense choreography that BTS had, it was unavoidable not to lose weight.

“Do they even let you eat what you want?” Laura, her younger sister, asked with her mouth full of food. That earned her a mild slap on the arm from their mom.

“Yeah,” Jessie replied. “But I try to take in small portions. I’m still on a diet.”

Her mom frowned. “Did the company tell you to do that? To go on a diet?”

“No,” Jessie said, quickly shaking her head. “I’m doing it because I want to. It’s not like I’m starving myself or anything. I’m just watching what I eat to make sure that I don’t eat more than I should.”

“Okay, but not tonight. Here. Eat more,” her mom said as she poured more soup into her bowl.

Jessie didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t help remember the times that her mom had told her to lose weight. Now she was telling her to do the opposite. Oh, the irony.

After eating her mom’s deliciously home cooked meal of kimchi jjigae and side dishes altogether as a family, Jessie’s dad returned to his office which was located across the living room and her mom turned on the TV to watch a drama. Jessie and Laura, who were left, decided to go upstairs.

Pulling her suitcase behind her, Jessie opened the door to her old room and her jaw fell open. “What happened to my room?”

Laura followed her sister in and immediately threw herself over the bed that had been impeccably set. Now as she laid over it, the sheets were ruffled.

“Um… It’s a guest room now.”

“Why?” Jessie demanded know, crossing her arms.

Laura shrugged. “Well, it’s not like you’re home often. We barely ever see you. Mom wanted to make use out of the room.”

Jessie slowly nodded, understanding that it was true. She didn’t live here anymore, nor did she get to visit much.

The room that had once been purple decorated with K-pop and animal posters was now just a light beige wall, and in the place of the computer desk that she had studied and done her homework at, there was a white vanity set. It was pretty much unrecognizable with no trace whatsoever that Jessie had been living here a few years back.

It was then that she realized that so much had changed. Her room was no longer her room, her family felt different, and she, herself, felt different too.

Jessie knew that she had changed a lot. She now had medium length ash blonde hair, which was subject to change by the next comeback, she wore makeup, and she was starting to learn how to not be a fashion terrorist from the help of her stylists.

Meanwhile, her family was exactly the same. Her dad was still a doctor, her mom was still a housewife, and Laura was still a straight A student.

“So,” Jessie began as she sat down on the bed, feeling it shift against her weight. “How is everything? Is school going okay?”

Laura shrugged as she adjusted her glasses. “Yeah. It’s the same old.”

“Oh,” Jessie nodded. “What about church?”

Growing up, she had been raised a Christian and her mom had made sure that she and her sister went to church every Sunday—something that she no longer did much to her mom’s dismay. The church was a big one with every Korean in the general LA area in attendance. In fact, Jessie had fallen in love with K-pop from hanging out with the Korean kids so much.

The truth was, Jessie was curious about if anyone missed her. She had lost contact with her friends over the years and by now, it felt too awkward to reach out.

“Church has actually become a little different.”

“What do you mean?” Jessie asked.

“Our family has gotten pretty famous thanks to you.”

“Wait, really?”

Laura nodded. “Everyone always asks about you and these random kids have wanted to become my friend all of a sudden, but I guess overall, it’s still worth the trouble. I mean, it’s not like every girl gets to show off how cool her sister is being an idol. Right?”

Jessie smiled. “Aww. Is that really how you feel?”

Laura nodded again, this time a little more eagerly. “I know that Mom doesn’t really like that you’re an idol, but I think it’s super cool and I support you a hundred percent.”

The room became silent as Jessie mumbled a small sound of thanks. Laura took this as a sign to change the topic.

“Hey, are you friends with any idols yet?”

“Hmm not really at the moment.”

BTS was still considered a rookie and with the group comprised of mostly all boys, it was hard for Jessie to hang around the girl groups. It wasn’t that she had to make friends with only girls, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to risk becoming friends with a male idol. She didn’t want any rumors spreading.

“Didn’t you get to meet GD?” Laura asked.

Jessie thought back to the time during the “N.O.” promotions when G-Dragon had also been promoting his songs at the same time.

“Well, sort of. I bowed to him and then he bowed back. That was pretty much it,” Jessie answered.

Laura didn’t seem to care that the interaction had only been brief. “He did? To a hoobae? Wow, he’s so humble.”

Jessie shook her head with a smile. Laura was totally in love with him. If it could be possible in real life, the young girl would have hearts in the place of her eyes.

“ _Please_ get me his autograph. Ooh, actually maybe one day you will become close with him and be able to introduce him to me in person.”

Jessie laughed. She couldn’t imagine a day like that coming, but she could dream big. She had never thought she would debut as an idol in the first place and that had somehow happened.

“Yeah, maybe,” she said with a smile before turning serious. “Look. Before I forget, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry I haven’t been able to contact you often. I really wanted to, but-”

“It’s okay,” Laura interrupted but with a face of assurance. “I get it. An idol’s life is busy. You have to practice every day, go to a dozen schedules, have an inconsistent sleep cycle, and etc. Don’t worry about me. I will be pretty busy soon too…”

“With what?” Jessie asked, genuinely curious.

“After school activities, volunteer work, and stuff like that. Mom has been totally obsessed about all of it. You know, in preparation for college.”

Jessie realized that now she was an idol, her mom was giving up on her. Now, her little sister was the new child to control. Laura was unlike her though. She was actually smart and did well at school, which was the opposite to Jessie who had been infatuated with the arts and crafts compared to academics. Maybe Laura would be the daughter out of the two to satisfy their mother by going to an Ivy League school and becoming “someone important in the world.”

“And are you okay with that?”

“Yeah,” Laura nodded. “I’m going to be a sophomore once summer is over. The next two years are going to fly by so fast and then bam, it’ll be time for college. I’ll be grateful when I’m there.”

“Just remember. You don’t have to live by Mom’s rule if you don’t want to,” Jessie made sure to say, just in case.

Laura grinned. “Is that going to be used as a line for a future BTS song?”

Jessie laughed. “You like?” she asked, purposely ungrammatically—a phrase that they often used with each other. “So what’s with the tension between Mom and Dad? Did they argue about something again?”

“Um… About that.”

Jessie became concerned immediately as her sister’s face turned serious.

“This is going to be very blunt, but it’s the only way I can tell you so I’m just going to go ahead and say it. Okay?”

“Yeah,” Jessie impatiently nodded.

“Mom and Dad are getting divorced.”

“What?” Jessie gave her a nervous laugh. “What in the world are you talking about? That can’t be true.”

“Well, it is,” Laura sighed. “I overheard them talking about it last night.”

“They haven’t even brought it up in front of us. I can’t believe this is happening. I mean, yeah they fought often, but a lot of couples do that… Right?…”

Laura raised an eyebrow. “Maybe?” She shrugged. “Maybe not. I mean, it’s not healthy.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jessie said. “Their arguments became so normal that I never even thought that it would lead to them separating though...”

“Yeah, me neither but this time it’s different. Apparently, Dad has a new woman in his life.”

Jessie’s mouth opened in shock. “He had an affair?”

Laura nodded before saying, “I just don’t understand. How could he do that to Mom?”

 _Because he doesn’t love her anymore,_ Jessie thought, but didn’t say it out loud.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled instead.

“What’s important now though is that Mom needs us, so I’m going to make sure I do what she says and try to be a good daughter for her. It’s going to help her move on.”

It was funny. Laura was such a smart, mature, and quick-witted girl. Sometimes, Jessie felt like she was the little sister instead of being the older one.

Jessie chose not to question Laura’s words. Jessie felt free now doing what she loved and living away from her controlling Mom, but Laura was different. She never expressed what _she_ wanted to do. It was about doing well in school and making their mother proud. She was actually compliant with their mother’s wishes and being the perfect daughter for her.

Jessie had felt bad for acting against her mom’s wishes, feeling like a child rebelling, so she was glad that at least Laura was making her happy. But as Jessie left home the next morning, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that she was abandoning her little sister. But why did she need to think that way? Laura was deciding to follow their mom’s wishes all on her own will. She would be okay, or so she hoped.

“Thanks for the free tickets,” Laura smiled. Thanks to her sister, she and her two best friends were going to KCON that night.

Jessie smiled back. “Have fun with your friends. Sorry that I can’t bring you backstage.”

“That’s all right.”

“Now come here and give me a hug,” Jessie said as she forced her sister into a tight hug. “I’ll miss you.”

“I will too.”

“Take care of Mom.”

“Don’t worry. I will,” Laura assured.

With that, the black van drove off as her little sister’s figure became smaller and smaller from the backseat window. Turning her body to face the front, Jessie met eyes with her manager.

“So how was it?” Eunha asked.

“It was alright,” Jessie answered.

“Just ‘alright’? Did something happen? Only your sister saw you off,” Eunha said.

Jessie knew that her manager was curious about her parents. After all, with how close the two were now, they knew about each other’s personal lives.

“Um… Well, it started off fine. I had a home cooked meal, caught up with my sister, but then I found out that my parents are getting divorced.”

“What?” She seemed unsure how to respond. “Are you okay?”

Jessie sighed. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, _I’m_ okay, but I don’t know if my mom is. I’m worried about her. She hasn’t worked since she got married and now she’ll have to go out and try to find a job again.”

“I’m sure she’ll be able to figure it out. She has your sister and from what I’ve heard, Laura is a smart girl. She’ll be responsible.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jessie nodded. “Together they should be okay...”

“You already have so much to worry about on your own. Now you have this on your mind too.”

“Don’t worry, unnie. I won’t let this distract me from performing.”

* * *

Hours later, Jessie was matching with the rest of the BTS members by wearing one of their outfits from the “Boy In Luv” concept clothes. The boys had blue jackets over their white shirts, some of them wearing blue ties, and all wearing black pants and sneakers. Jessie, on the other hand, had a somewhat different outfit with a skirt instead of pants. She didn’t get a tie either.

Jessie finished tucking in her blouse and left the bathroom where she had changed. It was what she had to do since she couldn’t just change in front of the boys.

“Unnie, where are the leggings?” she asked as she entered the dressing room.

The coordinator gasped. “Oh no. What do we do?”

“What is it?” the other one with more experience asked.

“I forgot to bring Jessie’s leggings.”

“What? You forgot?”

“I’m so sorry, sunbaenim. What can I do?”

“Go ask the girl group coordinators if they have any.”

The younger woman left the room and the other coordinator let out a deep sigh. When it came to stage outfits, it was always important to make sure that everything looked exactly as it should. One thing off could potentially ruin the entire aesthetic.

Minutes later, the young woman returned. “This was the only thing that I was able to find,” she said.

Jessie looked at the black stockings that were in the stylist’s hand. She couldn’t wear that, could she? They would only reach up to her knees and if she was lucky, possibly her thighs.

“These would look strange with the skirt. Besides, they are see through. This doesn’t seem age appropriate. You know what? We’re going to have to go with just the skirt for tonight.”

The next few minutes were spent using makeup to cover the dark bruises on her legs that contrasted so much against her pale skin from the lack of sunlight she had gotten. Even after being outside at times to film _American Hustle Life,_ her legs were still not tan.

“What’s going on?” Namjoon asked when he reached Jessie after circling the entire room to make sure that he was on the same page as all of the members before their performance. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she lied, trying to pretend like she was completely okay with her current situation. It was no use to complain. “I have to wear just the skirt today. They’re helping me cover up the bruises.”

He nodded knowing that she had gotten them from dance practice. He had bruises and so did the others. It was often inevitable when they practiced for so many hours each day.

“Okay. We’re all done. Stand up so we can see.”

Jessie stood up and looked at herself through the mirror. It was at this exact moment that she suddenly realized how short the skirt was. Had it always been this way?

She was wearing black safety shorts underneath, but still she felt like it would still be uncomfortable to dance knowing that her legs felt so bare. She had never worn anything like this before and to think that she had to wear it in front of everyone to see. Maybe this was what it would feel like to be in a girl group. She decided that she was glad that she didn’t have to experience something like this happening often in a group like BTS.

“What is this?”

“Jungkook. Don’t touch that. It’s Jessie’s.”

Jessie turned around to see Hoseok taking, or more like snatching, the box of tampons out of Jungkook’s hands. Although it really wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about, the fact that Jungkook didn’t have a clue made the whole situation a tiny bit awkward. Hoseok, on the other hand, obviously knew—probably because he had an older sister.

Hoseok whispered something into Jungkook’s ear and his eyes widened before stepping back. Throughout this whole exchange, the two boys hadn’t noticed that Jessie had been watching with amusement.

Jungkook finally realized that Jessie had been watching them the entire time when he spun around to grab the iPad off the center table. He sheepishly smiled at her.

“Sorry,” he mouthed.

She couldn’t help but laugh then. “It’s okay,” she mouthed back.

It really was.

Of course there were some uncomfortable moments being around boys 24/7, just because girls and boys could be somewhat different, but overall it made everything a lot better. She learned much more about keeping herself open-minded and got the chance to understand different points of views on every topic. She could proudly say that she was growing into a bigger person.

From the the span of KCON to BTS’ comeback with “Danger,” Jessie’s hair turned drastically from ash blonde to bright red. She was surprised that her hair was even alive after all those hours at the hair salon.

Next would come their “War of Hormone” promotions. But before that, BTS experienced having their first concert in Seoul, which would mark the beginning of their very first tour.

All parents and siblings were able to come, except for Jessie’s since they lived out of the country. However, she wasn’t as sad as she had initially thought she would be because the BTS members’ parents treated her like she was a part of their families, especially Jungkook’s.

From what she could see, Jungkook had grown up with two very loving parents. They were both very sweet with one another and she could tell that even after being together for at least twenty years, they still loved each other. She would feel happy just by witnessing their affectionate smiles. Jessie could see that whenever Jungkook’s father smiled, the two really looked alike. Maybe he had gotten his good looks from his dad, but then again his mother was beautiful.  

Jungkook’s mom had taken Jessie under her wing when they had went out for lunch prior to the concert. Apparently, his mom had always wanted a daughter. Unfortunately for her, she had two sons but both of them obviously made her proud. Jessie realized how different Jungkook’s family was compared to her own. She couldn’t help but feel just a little envious.

From that moment on, Jessie started receiving texts from Jungkook’s mother every so often where she would check on her. The woman was very sweet. Although Jungkook tended to hide his true feelings when it came to being personal, afraid to share his vulnerable side, Jessie could tell where his kind personality came from.

In fact, everyone’s parents were very nice people. They had definitely raised their children well. She was sure that every family had had their ups and downs, but now they seemed happy and that was all that mattered.

* * *

 By May 2015, BTS really felt their popularity rising. After all, they had their first win on a music show with their song “I Need U.” Jessie had been so happy and surprised by the unexpected result that she hadn’t even cried during their encore stage. Tears had welled up, but she had kept them in for afterwards because crying in front of people always made her feel weak.

However, for their second win on _M Countdown_ , she had a feeling that she wouldn’t be as susceptible to crying—especially when her members were messing with lipstick. BTS applied red lipstick for the encore stage as they had promised and Jessie noticed that the BANGTANTV camera was filming them from the front of the stage. She knew that this would be a funny moment to look back on later in the future.

Jungkook grabbed the red lipstick and pressed it against Jessie’s puckered lips. She wasn’t sure why she was allowing him to draw the bright color on her face knowing that he could potentially make her look like the Joker, but she left him alone because she wasn’t the same girl as she once was before. She wasn’t as self-conscious about her looks anymore. Now, she could have fun with something like this. Jimin, however, decided that she needed some protection—protection for her image. He gripped onto Jungkook’s arm, pulling it down before playfully slapping him.

Seeing Jimin, she saw that his lipstick wasn’t even on his lips, but on his chin from avoiding Taehyung when he had tried to apply the lip stain. She wondered if she looked like him too.

“Hey. You should be making her look pretty,” Jimin said into the microphone for the fans to be able to hear too. “What is this, Jungkook? You’re so mean.”

“Jeon Jungkook. I trusted you,” Jessie spoke into her own microphone.

“Okay, okay,” Jungkook laughed and his cackle could be heard through the speakers due to him standing close to Jessie’s microphone. He used his thumb to remove the overlapping lipstick from her lips. It smeared instead of wiping away so he began to wipe at it harder.

“Hey. It hurts,” she complained.

“Here.” Jungkook licked his stainless finger before moving it towards her.

She squealed as she ran away. “Ew! Your saliva!”

She hadn’t said it into the mic, but she had a feeling that her voice had been heard over the “I Need U” instrumental that was playing. This was confirmed when she heard ARMYs from the audience laughing at the maknaes’ interaction.

Jungkook easily caught up to her at the other side of the stage still holding out his index finger. Jessie saw the closest member standing next to her and pulled him in front of her.

“Ah. Why are you involving me?!” Jin’s familiar ajusshi voice could be heard this time.

Jessie smiled as she hid behind his broad shoulders and she briefly thought back to the past. It had almost been two years since their debut, yet they had gone through so much throughout that time from bad to good. They endured hardships, living crammed in a small apartment with only two bedrooms for eight members and occasionally their managers while they struggled to become recognized as artists. Now, as cliche at it sounded, they could finally see the light. They were on their route to success and it would be proven to be true because from then on, they just grew and grew.

* * *

“Dope” was a hit and “Run” was another success.

Their busy schedules caused time to fly by and suddenly, it was already near the end of 2015. The last week of December ended up being the busiest time of their entire career so far. They had a full schedule with an appearance on _After School Club_ , a concert in Japan, and end-of-the-year performances back in Korea.

Being unable to have enough free time, they spent Christmas together instead of with their own families by having a mini party in their apartment, enjoying some cake and tea after Jin’s homemade dinner. Afterwards, due to Jessie’s persuasion, they watched _Arthur Christmas_ without subtitles because they couldn’t find a source with translations. However, the movie was intended for younger audiences so the Korean-speaking members were able to easily follow along with the animation. Midway through the movie, Yoongi returned to his room stating that the movie was too childish for him and Hoseok had fallen asleep on the couch. It was unfortunate, but Jessie was satisfied by having the rest of the members watching the film in its entirety. She had found it extremely amusing to see all of them watching it with their eyes glued to the TV screen. They were all clearly still children at heart… or at least when they weren’t being perverts.

Early the next morning, they attended the studio to join the livestream for _After School Club_ , which was aimed to fit the schedule for international fans who most likely were living in places where the time indicated that it was still Christmas day.

Jessie felt her eyes drooping when the camera suddenly landed on her. She saw herself on the small screen located at the front where the crew members stood and her eyes immediately widened.

“Knock knock. Jessie, are you there?” She heard Eric Nam asking with a laugh.

Her face reddened as she smiled sheepishly. “Yes, I’m here!” she yelled, suddenly alert.

Everyone laughed and began making teasing comments at her.

“Please try to stay conscious,” Yoongi said, acting like he was begging and she nodded with an embarrassed expression.

“Sorry,” she quickly apologized in English.

“She and Jungkook stayed up all night watching movies, which is why they’re so sleepy,” Namjoon explained with a shake of his head. However, he was smiling.

The camera, which had been focused on Jessie, was now pointed at Jungkook who was clearly also tired as there were dark circles under his eyes even with the help of concealer. His double eyelids looked bigger than usual too, which happened whenever he didn’t get enough sleep.

His back straightened as he perked up. Jessie, who could be seen in the same frame because she sat behind him in between Yoongi and Taehyung, was avoiding the camera as she fanned her face to get rid of the heat.

“Oh, thank goodness. I was worried that I was boring you,” Eric attempted to lighten the mood. “Knowing that makes me feel much better.”

“Yeah, Jessie and Jungkook. Very irres…” Taehyung stopped his attempt at English midway.

“Irresponsible?” Namjoon finished for him.

“Yes. Very irresponsible,” Taehyung repeated. “No good maknaes.”

“What are you talking about?” Jessie questioned before nudging him in the side with her shoulder. “We’re angels.”

“No,” Taehyung said with an exaggerated attempt at an American accent. “Only sometimes.”

“All right. Before y’all get into a fight, let’s continue on with our show. Since we’ve talked about the album, shall we move onto the choreography?” the ASC Jimin aka Jamie asked. It was thanks to her that BTS remained under control throughout the interview. “What’s the key point of the dance for your new song?”

“For the choreography this time around, we focused a lot more on showing off our sexy side,” Hoseok began to say as he lifted his jacket off his shoulder even though he was wearing a shirt on the inside. “It’s a little different from ‘I Need U.’ This time around we put more attention on our subtle movements and acting on stage for our performance. And for the point choreography, we end with a cool butterfly pose.”

“Can you show us?” Jamie asked. “We have to see it.”

“Yes,” Hoseok answered before putting down his microphone on his chair. The other members quickly followed suit.

“So we’re gonna see a sexy dance first and then a butterfly,” Jamie explained in English as the eight BTS members moved over to the front.

“All right,” said Eric. “Music...”

“Cue!” the MCs said in unison.

There was a short moment of silence before the music abruptly started.

_“Ni eolgulman bomyeon utneun nanikka._

_Dashi run run run nan meomchul suga eobseo.”_

Jessie felt something pull against her blouse as she slipped her jacket off her shoulders for the choreography, but continued.

_“Tto run run run nan eojjeol suga eobseo.”_

This time she stopped as she glanced down at herself to see the top portion of her blouse open. If she wasn’t careful, she was sure that the audience would be able to see her bra. She was able to slip away without being noticed since her position was in the back left.

She moved towards the corner where Jamie and Eric were sitting and turned her back to the camera. She tried to button the top, but was unable to seeing that two of the buttons had fallen off. She was wearing a leather jacket with chains and she had a feeling that one of them had gotten caught onto her blouse during the dance.

The second part of the chorus continued while Jamie tried to find a way to help her, but there was really nothing much to do. Jessie would have to step out of the studio for a moment, but this was a live show. It would be unprofessional to do that.

_“Gajil su eobda haedo nan jokhae_

_Babo gateun unmyeonga nareul yokhae.”_

The music stopped playing and suddenly the attention was on her as the members walked over to see what was going on.

“Just a moment guys. Wardrobe malfunction,” Eric said in English to inform the viewers.

“Did the buttons come off?” Jimin asked and Jessie nodded. He was calm about the situation and it made her feel less panicky. “Then wear my jacket.”

He took off his pink suede jacket, which had clasps all the way up to the collar. Surely it would be able to cover her better than her leather jacket, which could only zip up halfway to her torso.

Jungkook wordlessly took off his own jacket and led her a little further back. She understood why when he lifted his jacket to cover her away from the view of the cameras.

“Thanks,” she mumbled as she quickly changed jackets.

When she finished clasping the buttons, she noticed that Jungkook had been looking away the entire time. She patted him on the shoulder to let him know that he could put his jacket back on.

“Wow. Pink suits you well,” Hoseok complimented while making a thumbs up sign with his hand.

“It’s almost as if this wasn’t Jimin’s jacket at all in the first place,” Eric said before translating it to Korean.

“Yeah, this fits really well. I think I might have to steal this from him,” Jessie replied with a laugh.

Jungkook hadn’t understood what she had said in English, but responded to Eric’s comment. “It fits well because Jimin hyung’s body is pretty small,” he remarked as he returned to his seat next to Jimin. The maknae was immediately slapped on the arm by his hyung.

“I’m not that small! Jungkook always makes fun of my height and now my body. Please scold him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to be set in 2016! Finally, my fanfic is going to feel like it is actually starting lol. No more overview type chapters and longer scenes (hopefully). Oh. Before I forget to ask, can you guess who sneezed during the fanmeet?! 
> 
> Ugh this month is going to be crazy btw. Two words: BTS and comeback. AH! Soooo excited!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next one.


	3. Hongdae

[](https://ibb.co/5LrC7n3)

It was always nice to receive a break after an extremely tight schedule. With their popularity on the constant rise, the BTS members found themselves having less and less opportunities to go outside to just have fun. It was early March and only four of the eight members were still at the apartment while the others went to visit their families for a couple of days. So on a Sunday night, Jimin, Hoseok, Jungkook, and Jessie—through receiving tickets from staff members—attended the Big Bang concert in Seoul.

They were spotted by a few fans who were sitting close to where they sat, but appreciated that they didn’t approach or bother them. Personal photos and videos weren’t allowed, but they were sure that somehow, their faces would end up online. After all, fans could be sneaky with their technology.

[](https://ibb.co/QpHBggR)

The members weren’t wearing any makeup so had accessories to somewhat cover their faces—Hoseok with his glasses and a mask, Jimin with his hat, and Jessie with her jacket that could cover her all the way up to her nose. Jungkook wore a mask the entire time unlike Hoseok who had pulled it down to his chin, but that was only because he was afraid to show his acne. Being an idol was tough. People expected everything to be perfect about them, including their skin and Jungkook was struggling with that aspect.

Before the concert could come to an end, the members stepped out of the arena for the consideration of each other’s safety.

“Ah, it’s such a shame. I really wanted to see 'Bang, Bang, Bang,' ” Jungkook said as he followed closely behind his members.

They had already seen Big Bang performing the song at an award show, but that didn’t change the fact that he was disappointed that he couldn’t get to see it again at their concert.

“Me too,” Jessie added.

“I know, but this is better than possibly getting attacked by people who will recognize us after the concert,” Hoseok said.

What he said was true. They didn’t want to disturb the peace within the arena by attempting to leave with everyone else at the same time. This was Big Bang’s concert after all. They didn’t want to distract the attention away from them, even when they were still rookies compared to the senior group.

As was expected, there were many taxis waiting outside of the arena knowing that they would be highly in need at this location around this time.

[](https://ibb.co/FxLSbqx)

“I think I’m going to hang around a little more before going home,” Jungkook revealed just as Hoseok got into the taxi. “I kind of want to explore the streets and gather my thoughts, you know?”

“By yourself?” Jimin asked, worried.

Jungkook looked over his shoulder and glanced at Jessie. “Not if any of you want to join me.”

“I will,” she said with a bright smile.

She didn’t want to go home just yet after becoming so hyped up during the concert. Besides, it was barely even nine o’clock since the concert had started at six, something that Jessie still wasn’t accustomed to in Korea. It was still early. They had time to have fun.

“Where do you want to go?” she asked.

“Let’s go to Hongdae,” Jungkook answered. It was close by and it was the hot place for young people to go.

“Okay.”

“So should we take the subway then?” he asked. “It’s been a while since we’ve taken it.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jimin interrupted. “You two should take a taxi, just in case.”

The two maknaes nodded.

“Be careful, you guys,” Hoseok called out from the taxi as Jimin stepped into the vehicle.

“Wherever you decide to go, keep an eye on each other. Also, have your phones on you with the sound _on_ at all times _._ Okay?”

“Yes, Dad,” Jessie said sarcastically to Jimin, causing him to erupt into a full grin.

He glanced over at Jungkook. “Promise me you’ll take good care of her.”

“I will. I will,” the maknae said, almost annoyed. “We’re not babies. We can handle ourselves on our own.”

“You’re still babies in my eyes!”

“Have fun, you guys,” Hoseok said with a chuckle before Jimin closed the taxi door.

Jessie and Jungkook got into a different taxi. When they arrived at Hongdae, they weren’t surprised to see that the streets were bustling with people even on a Sunday night.

[](https://ibb.co/m48F852)

“Your total is 16,631 ₩.”

“I’ll pay,” Jungkook quickly said, grabbing his wallet from his bag before Jessie could even pull out the money from her own purse.

Jessie was pleasantly surprised. “Oh. Jungkook,” she said, stretching out the syllables as she nudged him with her elbow. “You’re all grown up.”

He gave her an attempt of a glare that made him look more like an angry bunny if anything before focusing on the payment.

“Thank you,” the taxi driver said as the two stepped out.

“Have a good night,” Jungkook replied before closing the door.

“Are you hungry?” Jessie asked as she started to smell delicious food coming from all different directions.

“Yeah. Are you?”

She nodded. “Let’s go grab something to eat first. Is there anything you’re craving?”

“I’ll eat anything, so you can pick,” Jungkook told her.

“Hmm… How about tteokbokki and sundae?”

“Sounds good,” he nodded eagerly.

They made their way to the familiar restaurant, the small one on the corner of the street that they had gone to before debut. It had been the place to go to for spicy rice cakes.

“Wow. This place hasn’t changed at all,” Jungkook said, reminiscing his days as a trainee.

They chose to sit near the back and a woman approached them to take their order. This was another thing that Jessie still wasn’t used to encountering. In Korea, the waiter took orders immediately rather than giving the customers time to look at the menu. She had learned that the big food culture in the country probably had a lot to do with it. People seeked specific restaurants for specific kinds of food, so they were expected to know what they wanted to eat already by the time they walked in.

“Please give us one tteokbokki and two servings of sundae,” Jungkook requested.

The woman returned to the kitchen to place the order and Jungkook stood up to bring them hot water. As he walked away from the table, Jessie took in his choice of outfit. He wore a blue button up on the inside of his long black wool coat with a pair of dark grey jeans to match. As he stood beside a man who was also standing to get water, Jessie realized how tall Jungkook really was and how built his body seemed to be. On their short walk from where the taxi had dropped them off to this restaurant, he had towered over multiple people and of course that included her since she only reached up to the tip of his nose.

From debut to now, Jessie had stayed relatively around the same height. Maybe she was now a centimeter taller, but Jungkook was another story. He had grown tall enough to be similar in height with the tallest members. With him and his constantly developing muscles, there was an obvious reason why his hyungs were secretly afraid of him.

As Jungkook returned to their table, he flipped his bangs out of his eyes. She wished that her hair could look as straight and silky as his without having to style it. Her hair was puffy and wavy when it was left alone like it was now. It hadn’t always been this bad, but coloring her hair frequently had damaging consequences even when she was receiving treatments for her hair every so often. She hoped that her hair could take a break from the bleach and hair dye for the next comeback.

Jungkook was smiling now, his eyes glinting. It was crazy how much he was just a normal boy at times like this, but then intimidating and overflowing with charisma on stage. She always felt much more comfortable with this Jeon Jungkook than the other.

“Here you go, Jessie-ssi.”

“Thank you very much, Jungkook-ssi,” she said, playing along.

For a moment, she felt as if this was what it would be like to be on a date with a boy. She had never experienced anything like it before having been single her entire life so far, but something like this was what she imagined it to be.

Suddenly, she felt confused. Why in the world was she thinking of her best friend as a potential source of boyfriend material? Yes, Jungkook could probably be a good boyfriend someday, but he would be _someone else’s_ boyfriend. Not hers.

“Is something concerning you?”

“Huh?” She looked up into his curious eyes before shaking her head. “Ah, no. I was just thinking… About how much I missed coming here.”

A smile returned to his lips once again, the area around his eyes crinkling as he did so. “Yeah. I mean, I don’t miss being a trainee, but I do miss coming here and hanging out in the streets.”

“Without having to worry about people recognizing us?” she finished for him.

“Exactly,” he nodded.

“Your order is here,” the woman returned a few minutes later with a girl who appeared to be a college student working part-time. She placed the spicy rice cakes onto the table before moving to the side so that the student could put down the plates of sundae.

[](https://ibb.co/G7j2Xdf)

“Thank you,” Jessie said.

“I added a row of kimbap too on the side for you. No charge.”

“It looks delicious. Thank you very much,” Jungkook said this time.

“Of course,” she beamed. “I love giving out service to pretty couples.”

Jessie and Jungkook began waving their hands in front of them in denial.

“Oh, we’re not-”

“Mom, they’re _not_ a couple,” the student said, looking embarrassed.

Jessie realized that this woman was probably the owner of this restaurant and this student here was her daughter.

“They’re members from the same idol group. Remember I told you about BTS?”

“Oh, so this is them?” She looked at the flustered faces of the two customers. “I’m sorry.”

“No worries,” Jungkook quickly said in response, giving her a small smile.

“May I ask for your autographs?”

“Sure,” Jessie nodded and the woman left to find a pen and paper.

“Sorry about that,” the student apologized. “I understand that you two are probably just trying to enjoy your free time.”

“Oh, please don’t worry about us. It’s not a problem at all,” Jessie replied.

She had a feeling that the girl wasn't an ARMY. She was certainly aware of celebrities, but she wasn’t a passionate fan. Or she was one, but was holding her excitement in to treat them like normal people. Whichever it was, Jessie appreciated the girl’s kindness.

The girl smiled in relief as her mom returned. After receiving their autographs, the woman and her daughter left the table.

Jessie let out a small laugh, trying to ignore the awkward encounter that they had just experienced.

“Go ahead and eat a lot,” she encouraged. “I’ll buy.”

“What? No, I’m buying,” he argued.

“Jungkook, we are not going to fight over the bill.”

They did end up fighting over the bill and Jungkook won by shoving her—still gently, out of the door before proceeding to the payment.

The automatic doors opened as Jungkook stepped out, feeling satisfied about paying for the food. Honestly, Jessie was always the one buying him food and he felt that this time around, it was his turn to treat her.

Jungkook stopped in his tracks as he searched up and down the street because Jessie was nowhere to be found. He panicked just a little because although he knew that she wouldn’t just disappear like that, he was worried that something had happened to her. Suddenly, his eyes wandered over to the food truck that was parked across the street. There was a line forming and he spotted Jessie at the front of it.

His heart relaxed as he walked towards her. He heard her thanking the employee before taking two cups into her hands.

“Oh, hey Jungkook. Here, I bought us some hot chocolate,” she said, handing him a cup as if it was normal that she had left him without saying anything when they were alone in the middle of Hongdae.

He was forced to pull his hand out from his warm pocket, but the hot drink immediately protected him from the cold.

“You scared me,” he revealed to her. “I thought someone took you.”

“Psh,” she let out as she led him away. “I’m a tough girl. Who would even dare to try? Ooh. Do you hear that? Someone is singing my favorite song.”

“This is Bank’s 'Can’t Have You,' right?”

She nodded with excitement. Taehyung had introduced the song to her three years ago and something about the lyrics and the melody made her swoon every time she heard it.

“Let’s go check it out. Come on,” she made him hurry by pulling the elbow area of his coat.

They stood side by side, listening to the rest of the performance before clapping along with the rest of the crowd when the busker finished. Then, they continued walking and eventually, the two became quiet because they were both immersed in their individual thoughts as they tried to divide this world with their own.

Jessie’s heart ached for some reason as she saw couples everywhere, walking hand in hand as if they were mocking her for being single. She didn’t mind being alone. Having a boyfriend wasn’t _that_ important. She wasn’t even allowed to date for the time being, but even if she was, she didn’t know who she would date. She didn’t talk to any males other than her own group members and some 97 liner friends that she had met through Jungkook. From an outside view, she would look like she had absolutely no interest in boys. However, it was the opposite.

Something about having a partner and being able to rely on them seemed appealing to her. Maybe it was because she felt so alone without her family in Korea. Sure, she had a few relatives living here, but she didn’t get to visit them nor was she that close enough relationship-wise to meet up at their gatherings. If it wasn’t for BTS, she would be quite lonely.

“Is it just me or do you hear our song playing?” Jessie asked.

They walked a little further up the street and saw a group of people surrounding what seemed to be a dance group.

“Wow. They’re covering our song,” Jungkook said with amazement.

“They’re so good. Is it okay that we’re standing so close?” Jessie asked. “What if someone sees us?”

“It would be funny if we ended up in the background of someone’s video,” Jungkook said, leaning down to whisper into Jessie’s ear over the loud music.

“I can’t believe it’s already been two years since we released this song.”

“I know. We’re so old,” Jungkook replied.  

Jin probably would have slapped them if he had been there at that moment. Jessie giggled in response. She had turned nineteen back in January, so she _was_ old—old enough to be an adult now. In Korean age, she and Jungkook were already twenty-years-old.

_“Say what you want_

_Say what you want_

_Niga jinjjaro wonhaneun ge mwoya.”_

The song ended and Jungkook started pulling Jessie away from the crowd as a group of girls seemed to notice them. Jessie tossed her cup into the trash before glancing at him.

“I need to pee. I’m going to go into the cafe really quick. Maybe buy a water.”

“TMI. Do you want me to hold your bag?” he asked.

Jessie grinned. Of course someone who thought of sanitization as the most important thing in the world would remember that the bathroom stall would not have a clean place to set down her bag.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Jungkook waited at the side of the building, close enough to be able to watch the dancers perform while watching out for Jessie’s return at the same time. He looked down and chuckled at how funny he probably looked wearing dark clothes and Jessie’s light pink pursue over his shoulder. If his hyungs had been here, they would have been taking pictures to tease him or maybe to put it up on Twitter.

“Hi, Jungkook.”

He turned around to see a group of three girls approaching him.

“What are you doing right now?” they asked.

“Uh, I’m waiting for Jessie to come back out.”

“Oh. Is she here too?”

Jungkook nodded as he looked back towards the door to see if Jessie had come out yet. He was prepared to guide her away. He didn’t mind talking with his fans, but he was worried that he would attract a crowd.

“Do you have any new schedules?”

“Um… I don’t really know,” he answered. Nothing was really confirmed yet, but he wasn’t allowed to share comeback information anyway.

“Do you have a plan to visit China?”

“China?” he repeated, distractedly looking away.

“Chinese ARMY is looking forward to seeing you,” she replied.

“I will go right away if I have an opportunity,” he said.

“That would be great!”

The door finally opened and Jessie walked out with a water bottle in her hand.

“Oh my gosh. It’s Jessie.”

It was too late. They had already seen her. The fans ran up to her and Jungkook quickly caught up.

“Jessie, can we get a picture?”

Jungkook now understood why they were so eager to meet his fellow member. Jessie was famously known for taking pictures with the fans, even against their manager’s rules. She was just too nice to say no sometimes.

“Sorry, but we’re not allowed to take pictures,” Jungkook said as he stood beside Jessie. He tried not to sound like a robot as he said those set of words that he had to repeat often. They weren’t even allowed to be in videos, but he knew that the fans were already secretly taking them. He would let them do that at least.

“Aw,” the fans expressed their disappointment.

“I’m sorry,” Jessie apologized.

“You should go in. You’ll catch a cold,” Jungkook said, trying to wrap up the conversation.

“No, we can’t.”

“You’re not going to?” Jungkook laughed.

“We will. We will,” they eventually said. “Are you guys grabbing a taxi?”

“A taxi?” Jungkook repeated. “Ah, maybe after a little bit.”

“There aren’t any people over there, over here, and if you go behind,” the fan closest to him informed.

“When are you coming back?” another one asked.

“I don’t know,” he said before repeating it in English for the foreign fans standing in the back. The group was starting to get a little bigger. He waved before stuffing his hand back into his pocket. “Thank you for supporting BTS. We’re not leaving now, but really don’t follow us.”

“Okay. We really won’t,” they promised before waving. “Bye!”

“Bye,” Jessie waved back.

“Don’t smoke,” Jungkook said as a last comment, causing the fans to laugh in response. He was unashamed to admit that he didn’t like it when people smoked. He wanted everyone to be healthy.

Jessie pulled a strand of her auburn colored hair behind her ear as Jungkook forced her to move forward again.

“We’ve got to speed walk.”

“What’s the rush?”

“They seem really nice, but I’m just worried that we’ll attract a crowd,” he explained. “I promised Jimin hyung that I would keep an eye on you.”

For a moment, he sounded like an oppa to her when they were the same age.

They slowed down when they felt that they were no longer under curious eyes. “All this walking is making me hungry again. I think I’m going to get a corn dog. Do you want one?” Jungkook asked.

Jessie thought about giving in before saying, “I… shouldn’t. I need to start losing weight for our comeback.”

“It’s just _one_ corn dog,” Jungkook emphasized. “You haven’t even gained weight. What’s there to lose?”

 _In your eyes_ , she thought. She had been eating a lot the past few weeks with their less busy schedule and she could feel her cheeks getting chubbier. Meanwhile, she was still working on toning down her leg muscles. With their comeback theme intended to be set for the summer, she would have to wear shorts. She couldn’t really afford to be lenient on herself, but then again their comeback would be in May. She still had time to work on her appearance. It was hard not give into food when Jungkook persuaded her like that.

And so, they spent the next few minutes eating again when Jessie felt her phone vibrating. She had heard the faint _ding_ from inside her pocket, but if it hadn’t been for the vibration she probably wouldn’t have heard it. And if she hadn’t heard the alert, she would have been busted by Jimin himself. 

**Jiminnie Oppa**

[Translation]

Do you know what time it is? Come home quickly

It’s dangerous to go around late

No~~~~~

*adds the syllable ‘yo’ in Korean at the end to keep her wording formal*

Hey, stop joking around

Come quickly it’s so late right now

I can’t fall asleep because I’m worried about you guys

All right oppa~~~ Sorry

We’ll leave right away

Ok

* * *

“Who’s that?”

“Jimin oppa,” she answered. “He wants us to come home right now.”

“Why is Jimin hyung texting you and not me?” Jungkook questioned.

“Because you never read your texts.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Fine. You don’t reply to your texts,” she clarified.

“But only because I prefer phone calls.”

“Yeah and that’s because you’re just lazy.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I experimented a little bit this time by creating a fake text that Jimin would send to his fellow member when he's worried! I wrote it in Korean just because that's the language that I think in when I come up with their dialogue first in my head before typing it out in English. If you're currently learning how to read hangul at the moment, feel free to practice reading it :)
> 
> Also, finally a chapter where the entire thing takes place in one day! Woohoo! It was a lot less crazier to write. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope to hear feedback from y'all soon.


	4. "Save Me"

Going to dance practice every day and stopping by at the recording studio at least five times a week had made Jessie’s life quite busy and again, time had whizzed by. The upcoming comeback was going to be big and there was a lot of anticipation coming from their fanbase. The members made sure to stay low, so that they wouldn’t accidentally reveal any details before the actual album was released. However, they were already quite good at that—keeping secrets about their newest songs. After all, they had been PR trained.

It was already the second week of May. Their new music video “Fire” had been released on the first day of the month, which had been exactly four days ago. Originally, the plan had been to set the comeback date for late May or early June, but all of a sudden their company had pushed everything forward. It was the only solution to be able to fit everything into BTS’ schedule considering that they had the filming of their V Live show, _Bon Voyage_ , KCON, and a tour that would last until mid August.

BTS was suddenly busy again, but they were enjoying the ride. Having had stayed up all night in the dance studio, three out of the four members in the minivan were asleep.

Jessie was the only one who decided to stay awake because she knew that if she went to sleep, she would be grouchy when awoken by the time they arrived at the location of their music video shoot. She was scrolling through her phone after watching another fan’s reaction to the “Fire” music video. Whether or not their fans knew, BTS watched a lot of reactions and dance covers to their own songs. It always put a smile to their faces no matter what.

As she returned to the YouTube home tab, she saw on the first thumbnail an image of Hoseok facing the camera with Jungkook standing next to him with his hand reached out.

[ ](https://ibb.co/Q69Sv6t)

_“Jung kook and jhope hitting each other_ 😂😂 _”_ was the name of the video. She wasn’t surprised that someone had already taken the clip from their Countdown V Live and re-uploaded it for just that exact moment. She understood why because it had been a hilarious moment.

She tapped her finger on the video to see what ARMYs thought of it in the comments section. She had her earphones plugged in so she didn’t have to worry about the sound of Jungkook slapping Hoseok echoing throughout the van, but she still worried that somehow it could still be heard because it was just so loud. The slap had been really _hard_ and if it hadn’t been for her members’ crazy laughter, she would have been genuinely worried about Hoseok’s butt rather than falling into laughter with them. First off, Jungkook’s high-pitched cackle, which sounded so evil at that moment, was funny to hear and on top of that, Jin’s laugh was always contagious. She could hear her own laugh over Jin’s, which even she agreed sounded similar to his, but in a much higher tone.

She didn’t understand how Jungkook was so good at everything, even finding the most perfect way to slap someone on their butt in the right place to create such a loud noise. Jungkook had a weird obsession with butts, not to make him sound too strange. He would do it in a joking way of course, grabbing his hyung’s in that area whenever he was trying to tease them.

Her eyes trailed down each of the comments.

_“They sound like a bunch of hyenas lol”_

_“Jin & Jessie’s laughter tho. They sound so identical!” _

_“Jungkook’s laugh omg so funny”_

_“Jungkook’s slap form was amazing”_

_“Good luck to Jungkook’s future wife ‘cause she’s gonna be spanked so hard in bed lmao”_

_“Ok. I know the members would have never allowed it, but lowkey wanted to see JK spanking Jessie… xD Too bad she was an MC w/ Suga”_

_“I wanna be slapped by JK…”_

Jessie quickly exited out of YouTube and pulled out her earphones. The comments section certainly had some creative and funny things. Yet, sometimes the comments would get quite dirty and awkward to read. This was one of the reasons why.

Most fans kept Jessie’s relationship with each of the members as nothing more than just a brother and sister type of bond. But occasionally, there would be fans who would be imagining other things between them and then an argument would ensue in the comments section.

Her mind returned to the last comment that she had read. Why in the world would girls want to be slapped like that by Jungkook? Suddenly, she was reminded of _Fifty Shades of Grey._ She had secretly read the book because she was a curious soul and the content had been shocking, but certainly opened her eyes to something new.

Would Jungkook really use his slapping technique on his future wife? She couldn’t help but imagine it. He _did_ enjoy being in power considering that he often manhandled her and the older members easily, lifting and throwing them around.  

Jessie shuddered at her strange thoughts. What was wrong with her? Jungkook was her best friend. She really needed to stop thinking perverted things about him. Besides, what did she know? She was just a virgin.

“We’re here,” Eunha called out in a sing-song voice.

The vehicle slowed down and came to an eventual stop. Her manager looked over her shoulder to see Jessie the only one awake as per usual. A sly grin appeared on Jessie’s lips as she signaled with her hands a plan that she was about to do. Eunha gave her an encouraging reaction with a thumbs up.

Trying not to giggle, Jessie started recording a video with her phone. She faced the camera towards her face and pressed an index finger to her mouth. “Shhh. They’re sleeping,” she whispered in English before turning the camera to film Jungkook, who was sitting in the seat next to hers. Then, she shifted the camera towards Jimin and Taehyung, who were sitting in the back.

Without warning, she screamed knowing that her voice could somehow reach a tone that was almost high enough to be heard as a dolphin’s whistle. She watched as the three members reacted very differently.

First, there was Jimin who looked absolutely terrified as he yelled, “What is it? What’s going on?” He scrambled in his seat.

Second, there was Taehyung who took a glance at his surroundings all while looking completely unfazed.

Last, there was Jungkook who had placed his arm in front of her as if he was trying to protect her from harm’s way. Jessie began feeling bad about pulling this prank on him seeing that he had reacted as if this had been a serious situation until she caught another glimpse of Jimin’s face.

Her laugh immediately broke into the atmosphere.

Jungkook just stared, seemingly confused and totally out of it from being abruptly awoken from his sleep. His expression slowly changed as he began to process that Jessie had just pranked them. A smile naturally appeared on his lips. Her laugh was always contagious. After all, she was nicknamed “Windshield Wiper Laugh #2.”

“Yah! Kim Hayoung,” Jimin called her by her Korean name and Jessie knew that he had really been scared.

“Ha! I got you all on video. Say hi to ARMY.”

“Oh, hi,” Jimin suddenly put on a nice smile and Jessie cracked up once again.

She turned the camera towards Taehyung. “Why didn’t you get scared?”

“I’m not an easy man,” Taehyung replied, wagging his finger at her. “I can’t be fooled.”

That was true. Taehyung enjoyed adventures and the feeling of being thrilled. He couldn’t be scared easily.

Lastly, she turned the camera to Jungkook. “What do you think about my little prank?”

He ignored the question. “I’m gonna get you back,” he said before putting his hand up to block the view of the camera.

Jessie ended the video. “You can try,” she challenged, but was secretly a little scared of what he would do.

“Jungkook, include me in your plan,” Jimin begged.

The maknae gave him an ‘okay’ sign with his hand in response.

“This will be going up on Twitter in a few days,” Jessie stated while doing a small victory dance, which consisted of her head moving side to side.

They were all wearing their outfits for the “Save Me” music video shoot and Taehyung’s hair was now colored bright red, opposite from the “Fire” music video. In order to keep spoilers away, she would have to wait until “Save Me” was released before posting the prank on Twitter.

“I want to see the video,” Jimin said, leaning forward.

“I want to see it too,” Eunha called out from the driver’s seat. “Send it to me through Kakaotalk.”

“I will,” Jessie answered.

“Noona. Shouldn’t you be scolding her instead of supporting her?” Jimin questioned, his hands pressed to his hips.

“Nope. Sorry, Jimin,” she replied, faking an evil laugh and Jimin broke into a smile.

The three members huddled over Jessie’s phone as they watched the video. Jungkook laughed as he lifted his index finger to point at Jimin. “Hyung, your expression is amazing.”

“You look so cute, Jimin,” Taehyung added with a teasing smile.

“My derpy face looks cute to you?!”

The door on Jessie’s side was pulled open. “Come on out, guys,” Eunha said as she peeked her head through.

Once Jessie got out of the van, she thought back to when Jungkook had reached out his arm in front of her when he had woken up. His natural instinct had been to protect her and as she realized so, her stomach fluttered with butterflies. Why was she suddenly feeling like this? She tried to shake it off.

 _He did that only because he cares about me as a friend would,_ she thought to herself.

“Ah, it’s too cold,” Jimin yelled as he jumped up and down with his hands in his pockets.

“Save me,” Jessie also yelled. She ran towards Jimin to meet him at the center of grass before attacking him with a hug. Although he was slightly taller than her, they were still relatively similar in height. She could easily keep him in her hold, even if he didn’t want to be there. But of course, he was all for hugging, especially when it was cold.

“Me too. Me too,” Taehyung said as he joined the pair by wrapping his arms around them.

“I thought it was May. Why is the weather like this?” Jimin complained while staring up at the gloomy sky. Harsh raindrops hit him in the face as he did so.

The music video was supposed to be filmed as a one-take and that meant that a lot of people would be running: both the filming crew and the BTS members. The rehearsal took place soon after and it turned out to be a funny sight with everyone running around in disposable raincoats.

“Okay everyone. We’ll begin filming in approximately ten minutes,” the director announced into his megaphone.

Jessie suddenly had a major problem. She couldn’t remember the exact choreography from the dance break within the chorus. Her mind tried to dig through her memory, but she remained blank. As Hoseok walked by, she held her breath, trying to avoid his eyes.

Hoseok was certainly the equivalence to bright sunshine with his fun personality, but if she or any of the members ever forgot a dance move, he would do a 180. It wasn’t that he would get angry at her for forgetting the choreography because it was relatively new, but he would get into this serious mood as he often did when it came to teaching and that was always too intimidating. She would prefer not to experience such a thing on the day of their music video shoot.

Discreetly, she walked over to Jungkook who was practicing the choreography on his own.

“Jungkook-ah,” she said sweetly.

“You forgot the choreography, didn’t you?” he asked automatically.

She nodded, not even bothering to cover up the truth. “Don’t tell Hoseok oppa.”

“All right. I won’t tell hyung… but what will you do for me in exchange?”

She crossed her arms. “Are you serious?”

He nodded in return giving her an innocent look.

“Ugh,” she groaned. “Well, what do you want?”

“Five massages. Ten minutes each.”

“Hm… _Three_ massages.”

“Fine.”

“Deal,” she said.

“Follow me. We’ve got to practice behind the van unless you want to feel the wrath of Hobi hyung.”

After filming through the full song a couple of times, the members were starting to feel exhausted from constantly dancing and running.

Jungkook stretched out his arms. “All this movement is making my back ache. If only someone could massage my shoulders or something…”

Jessie ignored the urge to roll her eyes. Silently, she walked over and placed her hands on his shoulders. She squeezed hard on purpose so that he could feel how annoyed she was, but he seemed to think that it felt more soothing that way.

“That feels nice. A little more to the left would be good,” he said, guiding her right hand to a different spot.

“Does he have something on you?” Jin asked Jessie as he approached the maknaes. Hoseok turned his body to listen in on the conversation.

“Nope,” she responded, quickly shaking her head. “Why would you think that?”

“Something is off here…” Hoseok said this time.

“I’m... Just giving Jungkook a massage because he’s my dear friend and I don’t want to see him suffering in pain,” she stated.

“Okay. He definitely has something on her,” Jin decided to confirm.

* * *

_“Save me save me._

_I need your love before I fall, fall.”_

Jessie dropped to her knees and stared down at the grass as the instrumental ended. The track started all over again and the staff members began cheering because they knew that this was the last shoot of the day. The director and BTS were both satisfied with their final performance. This would turn out to be a perfect video.

“Thank you everyone,” Jessie bowed to the staff before joining her members in front of the BANGTANTV camera. It had been recording behind the scenes footage the entire time.

“The clouds at the end were perfect,” Jungkook said.

“I didn’t know there was a place like this in Korea,” Hoseok added.

“Yeah, a place like this… I didn’t know either,” Jungkook said.

Hoseok pointed at the sky. “Wow, just really. The clouds were so cool.”

The wind was still blowing very hard and Jungkook took a step back as Jessie’s ponytail made its way into his face. Jimin and Hoseok grabbed onto each other for support as they disappeared from the camera frame for a few seconds, laughing.

“Did you get that on camera?” Jungkook asked and the staff member nodded as she held in her laugh.

Jessie raised her arm to wrap it around Jungkook’s shoulder as she laughed with her two members. “My hair would like to apologize. Sorry.”

“Are you okay, Jungkook?” Hoseok asked with a smile.

Jungkook turned his victim-like expression into a smile. “Yeah, I’m used to this happening.”

Jessie covered her face in embarrassment as Jungkook proceeded to tease her by imitating how her hair would flip while dancing on stage.

“If only I had long hair, I could reenact it perfectly,” Jungkook laughed.

Minutes later, Jessie went over to Eunha who had brought hot drinks for everyone. She was drinking some warm tea while standing by the camera when she saw Jimin giving Taehyung a piggyback while they finished up their interview.

“Give me one too,” Jessie said with her natural aegyo appearing, although she was joking about it.

All of a sudden, the cup was taken out of her hand and given to Jimin. Jungkook came into the view of the camera as he knelt down in front of her. Without questioning his actions, she jumped onto his back and he took off running. She squealed as she felt as if she would lose balance.

“Jeon Jungkook!” her voice went up high. “I feel like I’m going to fall.”

“You won’t,” he assured, making sure to hold onto her tight. "I promise."

“Guys, say bye to the camera,” Jimin yelled at the two maknaes whose bodies were starting to look smaller as their distance from the camera grew wider.

“Bye!” they waved, officially ending the filming of the “Save Me” music video.

* * *

Jessie heard the familiar sound of Skype’s dialing noise as she waited for her sister to answer the video call. She smiled as Laura’s face came into view. Laura’s hair was in a messy bun, her face didn’t have any makeup, and she was wearing those huge glasses that she hated to wear, but she still looked adorable in her older sister’s eyes.

“Hey. How’s it going?” Jessie asked with a wave of her hand.

“It’s been all right. How have you been?”

“Pretty busy with the comeback, but it’s been fun.”

“Where are you right now?”

“In the dressing room,” Jessie answered. As if on cue, her stylist’s hand entered the view of the screen as she added some more concealer over the red spots on her cheeks.

“Oh, right. You have a concert tonight, don’t you?”

Jessie nodded. It was true. BTS was having their concert at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena tonight.

“Unnie, fighting!”

Jessie smiled at her sister’s words. With them speaking English to each other on a usual basis, it was rare to be called ‘unnie’ by her younger sister.

“Fighting,” she said back. “How’s Mom?”

“She’s doing well. . .”

“Okay. What’s the problem?” Jessie could immediately sense that something was off.

“I just… feel bad for her.”

“Why? What happened?”

“You know how I said that I would never meet Dad’s girlfriend?”

Jessie nodded for her to continue.

“Well, I ended up meeting her for the first time yesterday and I actually like her. She’s not a bad person after all.”

“Oh,” Jessie let out, unsure of how to react to the situation. “Um… That’s good, right?”

“Yeah,” Laura nodded nervously.

“So why do you look so down?”

“Because Mom found out about me meeting her and then she got all silent on me and you know that her being quiet is scarier than her yelling at me.”

Jessie nodded in understanding. Yes, she felt that with everyone, even her members. The silent treatment was always scarier than the yelling.

“I couldn’t understand him when he first asked Mom for a divorce, but when I saw how happy he looked with ajumma yesterday, I realized that he didn’t have that same look in his eyes when he was with Mom. I guess like you’ve said before, he fell out of love or maybe he didn’t love her that much in the first place. Either way, it’s sad for Mom,” Laura said.

Jessie agreed, but there wasn’t much that they could do other than to help their mom move on. It was over now. Their parents were officially separated.

“I’m sure Mom isn’t upset with _you._ It’s difficult for me to express with words on how she must be feeling right now, but imagine being in her place. Make sure you spend an equal amount of time with Mom as you do with Dad and I’m sure eventually, she’ll move on. I’m glad she has you by her side to be looked after and I’m sorry because I feel like I left everything to you.”

“Stop worrying about me. I can handle myself,” Laura responded with a firm expression on her face.

Jessie nodded. “I know. You’ve grown up.”

“I know,” she said back with a grin. “Hey, when is KCON again? Will you be stopping by to visit home? I haven’t seen you in like forever.”

She was right. Jessie hadn’t seen her since the last time she had been in LA for KCON in 2014.

“I think we’ll be at KCON LA on the last day of July,” Jessie replied, trying to remember when the exact date was. She had remembered hearing that there would be a few days of break before their next scheduled concert afterwards. “I think I should be able to visit for longer this time if I’m allowed.”

“Cool,” Laura smiled. “Maybe your members could come over too. It would be fun with a large outdoor barbeque party. Dad’s new house has a swimming pool.”

Jessie had heard that her mom had moved to a two room condo, which was drastically different from the four bedroom house that she had grown up in. Her mom’s home wouldn’t be able to fit all of her members, but her dad’s new place certainly would.

“Yeah, that would be fun,” Jessie agreed. “You could also finally get to meet the members in person.”

“Yes, finally.”

“Jessie-ah.”

Jessie turned around and saw Jungkook running in with a small container of side dishes and chopsticks in his hand. Wasn’t he supposed to be eating? Why was he in such a rush midway during his meal?

“Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting?” he asked, worried that she was talking to one of her parents.

“Nope,” she answered as she started to motion him forward. “It’s my little sister. Come and say hi.”

He went behind her chair and leaned over her shoulder. Jessie watched his face turn into a friendly smile through her phone screen.

“Hi Laura,” he said with a wave.

“Hello.” Laura bowed out of habit, even through her computer screen.

“So why did you run in just now?” Jessie asked.

“Jimin hyung just started V Live. I wanted to ask if you wanted to go and bother him with me.”

“Hmm…Maybe I’ll join you in a little bit.”

“Okay,” Jungkook quickly nodded. He gave Laura a final wave with his free hand before leaving the room.

“You go ahead,” Laura spoke. “It’s past 1 am over here anyway. I should be going to sleep.”

“You don’t want to watch our V Live?” Jessie teased.

“I’ve seen enough of you for today.”

“How nice of you to say that.”

Laura grinned. “So you and Jungkook,” she suddenly said.

“What about us?” Jessie asked, purposely lowering the volume so that the stylists in the room couldn’t hear the conversation. She moved to the corner of the room now that her makeup was finished.

“You two look cute together,” she winked.

“Stop it. He’s my _friend_.”

“It doesn’t look like it.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Haven’t you heard of Jekook?”

Yes, Jessie had heard of it. It was her and Jungkook’s ship name that some ARMYs liked to associate them with. ‘Jekook’ in Korean meant “empire” and they were often labeled as the “Golden pair.” Of course the name supported their friendship moments caught on camera, but some fans liked to imagine much more.

“I- I don’t look into that stuff,” Jessie stuttered because she was a terrible liar. “It’s not real. We’re just friends.”

“Right,” Laura said with a smirk. “You obviously have feelings for him.”

Jessie’s heart sank. “Is it that obvious?”

“Not really,” Laura admitted. “But I’m your sister and I can read your expressions.”

Jessie relaxed just a bit, but still felt like a deer caught in headlights. “It’s a secret,” she warned.

“Who would I tell? I can be your confidant. If you ever need to talk to someone, I’m here,” Laura said. “I can help you gather up your courage to confess to him.”

“Thanks,” Jessie chuckled, “but that won’t be necessary because I am taking this secret to the grave.”

“But why? It’s almost been three years since you’ve debuted. Soon, your dating ban will be over and you’ll be free to date.”

Her sister was right. Their dating ban would be gone by mid June. It didn’t matter anyway though. Jessie didn’t plan on dating any time soon. Who would she date? Besides, their fans had no idea that a dating ban even existed because the members just didn’t talk about it. BTS didn’t need to be associated with any scandals, especially not when their fame was starting to rise more and more every day.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to indulge in anything that could possibly ruin the team. Besides…” She looked over her shoulder to make sure that no one was listening. “He would never think of me as anything other than a friend.”

Laura shrugged. “Anything is possible. Everyone has a different opinion, but personally I don’t believe that a man and a woman can be _just_ friends.”

Jessie didn’t know why, but hearing those words made her feel more at risk. “I’ll talk to you later,” she quickly said.

“Okay,” Laura agreed. “Break a leg.”

Jessie gave her a small smile. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

Jessie walked into the waiting room where Jimin and Jungkook were doing V Live.

“Bye bye,” she heard Jungkook saying as he waved.

“See you later,” Jimin added before noticing that the other maknae had entered the room. “Oh, wait. Look who decided to show up now.” He scooched to the side in order to make room for her to sit in between him and Jungkook.

“It’s too late now. We’re ending the livestream,” Jungkook said as he stood up.

“No,” Jessie objected. “I didn’t get the chance to talk with ARMY.”

“You’ll see them soon,” Jungkook replied as he suddenly moved close to the camera, his lips almost touching it as if he were about to kiss it before blowing at it instead. He then moved away, disappearing from the frame.

“There is someone’s spit,” Jimin said as he wiped the lens with his finger.

Jessie just smiled and continuously waved both of her hands because she didn’t know when Jimin would randomly turn off the livestream. He seemed to do that often.

“It’s not spit,” Jungkook said as his arm appeared onto the screen. “We left our trace—”

The video ended abruptly.

“So during the livestream, we were talking about who would be crying by the end of the concert,” Jimin informed Jessie. “Do you think you’ll cry?”

“You always cry when you see someone else crying,” Jungkook pointed out.

“So you better not cry, Jungkook,” Jimin said. “We’ll all cry if you do.”

Jessie nodded, agreeing with him. Sure, she cried whenever someone close to her did, but for some reason if Jungkook cried, it was different. It was much more heartbreaking to see and she just couldn’t understand why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm usually quite terrible at updating chapters because I get writer's block so easily, but I'm trying to motivate myself to continue on with this story because I have a lot of things planned for the future. Each of my chapters are so long though... I hope I don't forget what has happened in the previous chapters when I'm writing new content! 
> 
> So I think that I write around 5,000 words per chapter on average and that's because I personally prefer reading longer chapters and for some reason I think that most people will prefer that too (but maybe not? Who knows?). However, now I'm starting to feel quite burdened by it lol. I guess I'll try not to stress too much over the word count and focus more on the natural creativity that should come to me when I'm writing. Anyway, that's my little rant/explanation of the day. 
> 
> Thank you for stopping by to read my story. Just to motivate me a little more, please leave a comment because right now I am feeling a little alone here T.T
> 
> Wait. I just realized that I've been writing all the members by their birth names at all times except for Jin. For some reason, I use Seokjin and Jin interchangeably... Oh well. I shall try to keep that in mind from now on. 
> 
> -Jane


	5. Strange Feelings

Jessie usually disliked interviews, but as she sat towards the center of the lined up chairs in between Taehyung and Jungkook, she felt quite comfortable. It was all thanks to Seokjin, who was assigned as the MC for this special comeback interview. It started off a little awkward, but with Seokjin’s enthusiastic MCing, the interview became quite interesting.

“There is something that has been becoming quite hot these days,” he revealed after taking a glance at his cue card.

“What is it?” Hoseok asked, as if he didn’t already know. He had heard Seokjin practicing this part in the car and also in the dressing room.

“I didn’t know about this, but Suga’s killing part is when he says, ‘It’s on fire.’ ”

“Of course,” Hoseok agreed.

“Can any other members show different versions of “It’s on fire” for the viewers?” Seokjin asked.

“I personally like Rap Mon hyung’s version,” Jimin said, putting his leader so suddenly on the spot.

Namjoon shook his head. “Oh, I really hate it.”

“He doesn’t like it?” Seokjin asked.

“I don’t like myself doing it,” Namjoon clarified.

“You should still do it,” Jimin said from beside him.

“As the MC, I will order Rap Mon to do it.”

Namjoon looked betrayed. “Wow, I’ve never done it before. Why are you doing this to me?”

That was a lie. The truth was, he along with some of the other members had attempted saying that one line in the recording studio. However, in the end, they had decided to go with Yoongi’s version because it sounded the most fitting. Now, as Namjoon looked back, he was embarrassed.

Although he wasn’t prepared, he was pressured into saying the line when Taehyung started counting. “5, 6, 7, 8.”

“It’s on fire,” Namjoon said in a deep voice.

Jimin fell back into his chair in reaction while laughing as Seokjin let out a loud “wow,” pretending to be impressed.

“How about we have Jimin, the one who made Rap Monster do it, have a try at it too? Please do it for us now.”

Jimin immediately rose up from his chair, sitting properly before leaning forward. He stared into the camera with wide eyes. “It’s on fire,” he said, replicating the original part by saying it in a low pitch.

Jessie covered her face with her hands to hide her big smile. Although he was older than her, she often found herself thinking that he was just too cute to handle.

“Jessie-ssi, what did you think of Jimin’s version?” Seokjin suddenly asked her.

“I really liked it,” she replied with a thumbs up on both hands. “Jimin oppa is always so cute.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be cute, but thank you.” Jimin wiggled his eyebrows before gesturing his hand towards her. “However, you’re cuter.”

“There is no flirting allowed in this interview,” Seokjin threw in a joke. “Please set that aside for later.”

Jimin laughed before saying, “Okay.”

“How about we have Jungkook-ssi, who was sitting next to Jimin, try it next?” Seokjin suggested.

“It’s on fire,” Jungkook said with a shy smile.

Seokjin continued before anyone could even react. “Okay, let’s move on to the next segment.”

This caused everyone to laugh because they were baffled by his ridiculously fast MCing. It was poor Jungkook who had been forced to do something that hadn’t even gotten a reaction for, but of course he didn’t mind. He knew that Seokjin was trying to be humorous.

“We can’t avoid talking about the famous “Fire” music video shoot. So now V, who is sitting quietly right now, will tell us an interesting episode from our music video shoot.”

Taehyung raised the mic to his mouth. “For me, the scene where the car dropped was impressive. I think that has been the largest scale among our music video scenes.”

“Don’t you have anything to add Jungkook-ssi, who is massaging his own neck?” Seokjin suddenly asked. Jessie thought he reminded her of a teacher that she had had in middle school who would always put kids on the spot when they were least expecting it.

Jungkook’s quick-wittedness took over. “Me? Not really.”

Everyone laughed at his response, but Hoseok’s was the loudest.

“Our maknae indeed has nothing to say. Then, what about our next maknae?” Seokjin asked.

She thought for a good second. “The most memorable part about our music video was your handsome face,” she answered.

“Ah, I am so touched!” Seokjin yelled as he stood up with a satisfied face. “Thank you very much.”

“I could only see you, hyung,” Jimin added.

“Yes, Jin hyung’s visuals came out so well in this music video,” Hoseok said, quite seriously this time.

Taehyung decided to join in on the complimenting session. “I think Jin hyung’s bridge part was the killing part.”

“Indeed our members,” Seokjin said as he held his chin between his thumb and index finger.

“I wanted to say something, but nevermind…” Jungkook trailed off.

“Finally. Finally everyone! He needs a one-shot,” Namjoon said as he tried to silence the other members.

“Please give him a one-shot,” Seokjin requested to the camera crew.

“Finally he will talk,” Namjoon stated, overenthusiastically.

“Don’t hold the mic,” Taehyung said to the youngest member. “I’ll hold it.”

“I’m an expensive man,” Jungkook said with a cheeky smile to play along before pausing. “I just wanted to say… Jin hyung looked cool.”

There was literally nothing but silence, but thanks to Seokjin the interview continued once again. Today was definitely a Jungkook teasing day.

“Now it’s time to completely dissect BTS!”

The interview moved on fast paced from then on as the members answered random questions. Afterwards, the next segment comprised of missions for the members to complete.

“Our next mission is ‘Move the paper,’ ” Seokjin revealed.

Jessie felt flustered by his words. She hadn’t known that they would be playing this game. She had seen it on variety shows before and it looked dangerous since the papers were so thin and could easily fall. She wondered how their managers had even allowed this game to be a part of the interview. Did they forget that she was a member? She felt her stomach churn with anxiety as she thought about the backlash she would face once the video got out.

This was crazy! Even if the paper would exist in between their lips, how could she press her own lips to her fellow members’? She was sure that the others were thinking the same.

“No way. It’s not the thing where we move it by our lips, right?” Jungkook asked.

Seokjin ignored his question. “You succeed if you move the paper from lips to lips without dropping it.”

“I will begin,” Yoongi said.

Taehyung laughed nervously. “This is crazy. Why am I next to Suga hyung?”

“There’s a thirty second time limit,” Seokjin informed.

“We will start,” the producer called from the back and Yoongi pressed the paper to his lips. Taehyung started to lean in and Jessie clenched her fingers together, unsure of what to do.

All of a sudden, Yoongi coughed and the paper fell to the ground. “Did we fail?” he asked.

Jessie had never felt so relieved as she broke into a laugh with the others. Having to press her mouth against Taehyung’s, who was like an older brother to her would have been totally weird. And pressing her lips against Jungkook’s? Well, her face would have turned bright red, which would have led to some questions... She was glad that things had turned out this way.

Yoongi was pretending to look disappointed, but it was obvious that he had dropped the paper on purpose. So with Seokjin’s announcement of their failure, they moved on to the last mission.

“You have to carry a member and pass the limbo,” Seokjin explained.

“You have to carry a member?” Jungkook asked, a little surprised.

After hearing the rules, Yoongi spoke. “Three members have to pass through, so let Jungkook carry all of those members.”

“That’s a great idea,” Namjoon nodded as Jungkook laughed nervously.

From the point of view of the members, Jungkook was the strongest. But Jungkook still didn’t realize the capability of his true strength and he doubted himself just a little knowing that he would have to carry a member under the limbo successfully three times.

“Suga hyung is a genius. Who are the lightest ones among us?” Namjoon asked.

“Me,” Yoongi volunteered himself.

“Okay so Jimin, Suga hyung, V, and Jessie,” Namjoon listed the members. “Jungkook, as the person who will be carrying the members, you should decide who you want to carry.”

Jungkook looked around. “I’ll pick Jimin hyung, Suga hyung, and…” He glanced at Taehyung before deciding to choose his 97 liner buddy. She would be easier to lift. “Jessie.”

“Good. Now you finish everything,” Namjoon said to him.

“Yes, do it,” Jin encouraged.

Jungkook first carried Yoongi, his one arm supporting his back and the other resting under his legs. It looked so easy for him as the others watched.

[ ](https://ibb.co/g3BxGHM)

“Jungkook can make noona fans’ hearts tremble,” Namjoon said.

Next, Jungkook carried Jimin and this time his arms were starting to tire out. Nonetheless, he still succeeded.

[ ](https://ibb.co/pxrNfnt)

When it was her turn, Jessie didn’t know why but she felt so nervous. It wasn’t like Jungkook hadn’t lifted her up before, but those times had been either on his back or for a quick second or two when he was forcing her off the couch or away from the computer desk. Those times had been much different. Now, he was going to carry her bridal style. That was a little too intimate.

Since Jessie was older—being twenty-years-old in Korean age, her stylists were beginning to throw more revealing and sexy style clothes into her stage outfits. To match the concept of “Fire,” Jessie’s current outfit consisted of shorts and that was why she had been crossing her legs throughout the interview so far. Usually, the producers prepared blankets for female artists to cover their legs when they were sitting down, but as she was a member of BTS, they often forgot about her.

[ ](https://ibb.co/ByJkq37)

“Is there a blanket?” Jungkook asked, stepping out of the frame for just a moment and Jessie understood that he was looking for something to wrap her up in before he lifted her.

The producer he had asked shook her head. “Unfortunately, we don’t right now. But we could probably find—”

“I think it’ll be okay,” Jessie said as she tugged down the hem of her shorts just to be sure that they were straightened all the way. “I’m wearing safety shorts.”

She tried her best not to show how tentative she was by wrapping her arms around Jungkook’s neck without hesitation after walking up to him, but on the inside she was feeling anxious.

Jessie worried for just a short moment because she always had thoughts about how she wasn’t as skinny as a girl group member. Would he be able to lift her? This was different from him giving her a piggyback ride, wasn’t it?

Her doubts were quickly dismissed when he pulled her up easily into his strong arms. She didn’t know how to express what she was feeling because her emotions were all over the place. Having Jungkook’s arm wrapped under her legs with his hand resting on her bare thigh felt too… intimate. It felt like he was crossing some sort of imaginary boundary and it felt so wrong but right at the same time.

He placed his feet apart from one another and bent his knees to prepare going underneath the limbo. “Hold onto me a little tighter,” he said to her and she quickly complied by shifting her wrists. This allowed Jungkook to adjust his hold on her and suddenly, she was pulled into him a lot closer than before. She briefly worried that their lips would accidentally touch.

As he began to make his way under the limbo, Jessie didn’t know where to look. However, her eyes eventually landed on his jaw line and then moved over to his perfectly shaped nose. Had he always been this handsome? Her heart felt like it was starting to beat faster.

 _Stop it, Jeon Jungkook. What are you doing to my heart?_ She thought as she bit her lip.

After what had felt like an eternity when it had only been a few seconds in reality, Jungkook succeeded in getting to the other side. Differently from how he had set down his hyungs, he made sure to place her down carefully.

Their members began to clap and Jessie took that moment to quickly walk back to her chair.

“So that’s how BTS establishes a new record,” Seokjin cheered.

* * *

Later in the day, BTS stepped off the familiar MBC stage after recording their comeback performance and they returned to the hallway to find their dressing room. They saw the nine members of Twice stepping out of the waiting room as they did. The girls were in their stage outfits for “Cheer Up” with varsity jackets and matching shorts. They looked so cute, sweet, and beautiful at the same time. Times like these were why Jessie would wish that she could have debuted in a girl group, but then she would quickly take it back because there was nothing better than being in a special group like BTS.

Jessie moved her long dark hair to one side of her shoulder to gather the wild strands that had flown in different directions while performing. She dabbed the tissue her stylist had given her to absorb the sweat away from her neck.

“Hello,” the Twice members bowed multiple times to make sure that they were greeting each of their sunbaes out of respect.

Jessie having had talked to a few of the members before, but not being as close with them to carry out a conversation, just smiled and bowed back. Being around seven members who were all males, the only idols that she ever got to talk to were boy idols.

She saw Jungkook who was walking ahead of her, bowing quickly and moving away from the Twice members. She knew that he was usually shy in front of girls and it was cute to witness, but it also made her a little sad to know that he had never been shy in front of her. That was why she would have to conclude that she would never belong to him… Because he considered her as a friend and nothing more.

If Jungkook ever started dating, she was sure that he would be dating a beautiful girl with lots of aegyo and a bubbly personality. She would probably be a girl group member. None of those things were her.

As Jessie stepped into the dressing room, she approached Jungkook. For some reason throughout the rest of the day, she felt that things had become weird between them. Jungkook was usually all for jokes and playing, but he hadn’t said a single thing to her. It wasn’t like him at all to be so quiet and distant around her.

She decided that she couldn’t take it anymore. She would have to confront him.

“Jungkook-ah.”

She tugged on the back of his cardigan and he spun around, immediately meeting eyes with her. He tilted his head down just a little out of habit from their height difference, though it wasn’t too much.

Jungkook saw the timidness in her eyes right then and he knew that he was intimidating her. People had told him many times before that when he wasn’t smiling, he looked hard to approach. He didn’t understand how that was possible because he wasn’t like that at all, but maybe that was what his physical appearance made him look like. He gave her a small smile as an attempt to help relax her for whatever reason it was that she looked so tense.

“What’s up?”

“Um…” She looked confused by his response and he didn’t blame her for it. He had been confused by his own behavior and thoughts throughout the entire day. “I don’t know. Is something up?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been acting differently… Is something wrong?” she asked, her eyebrows knitted together in a combination of worry and confusion.

He shrugged. “Nothing. Everything’s fine,” he answered.

“Really? Because you haven’t talked to me since this morning.”

His hand reached out to touch the back of his neck. “Sorry. Honestly, I wasn’t feeling too well and I… I didn’t want you—or anyone else to worry about me…”

Jessie could finally breathe properly now that he told her. Jungkook was the type of person to hide it whenever he got sick or was in pain. He didn’t like being vulnerable or being fretted over. Being distant for not feeling well was something normal for someone like him.

“Oh,” she nodded. Without warning, she pressed a hand to his forehead. “Hm… You don’t have a fever.”

“I-I feel much better now,” Jungkook answered with a stutter, but she didn’t think too much of it considering that it was a part of his speech habit sometimes.

“Are you sure?” she asked and he nodded. “Well then, how about I get you a soda? Maybe you haven’t digested—”

“I’m fine. Really,” he assured her.

“Okay… I’ll believe you,” she smiled and much to her appreciation, he finally smiled back.

* * *

_A week later._

Jessie stepped out of the bathroom while holding onto her stomach as she experienced terrible cramps. Her period always seemed to come bother her at the most inconvenient times. How lovely it was to know that she was bleeding down there on the day she was leaving to go on a vacation.

The first two days were usually always painful and she wasn’t looking forward to going on the airplane for ten hours before getting onto another flight for two more. Yet, Jessie was still excited about the filming of _Bon Voyage_ because going on a ten day trip with her members around Europe sounded absolutely fun. The only disappointing part—other than that she was on her period—was that Taehyung wouldn’t be able to join them until later on, but it was for a good reason. He was staying in South Korea for just a little longer to wrap up the filming for an upcoming drama, _Hwarang._

A week had passed since the awkward ‘limbo’ encounter had occurred and things returned back to normal. Jessie decided that the best thing to do was to continue being Jungkook’s best friend no matter what she was feeling inside. She knew that it would be difficult, but maybe with time, she would be able to get rid of her feelings for him. She didn’t want to ruin their friendship by telling him the truth and having him awkwardly rejecting her and she didn’t want to disappoint ARMY after assuring them many times that she would never date any of her members.

Jessie opened her grey suitcase and carefully placed the clothes that she had prepared for the trip a few days ago. She added her toiletries before shutting the case and zipping it up. She was glad that she had forced herself to organize her stuff together prior to their departure date because now while her members were racing against time, she was already finished. She wasn’t usually this organized. One would be able to tell when they looked into her room as it was piled with clothes laying on the floor. She would only clean when Hoseok nagged her. However, when it came to being responsible, Jessie was quite good.

As she heard the other members rushing around the apartment trying to put their things together, she stood in the living room as one of the three cameramen filmed her. They were currently busy going around trying to film each of the members as they packed.

[ ](https://ibb.co/NtFLw4f)

“If you look over here, these are my beautiful plants. They’re basically my children,” she explained with a hint of sarcasm. “They are the reason why our dorm still has fresh air.”

“Hey. You’re making us sound like we’re dirty,” Seokjin complained as he rushed to the other side of the apartment. “Stop talking and go pack your suitcase.”

“But I’m already finished…”

“What? How?!” his voice faded as he entered his room.

“Jessie! Where’s my camera?” Jungkook asked as he appeared into the living room. He waited for her response.

She wasn’t even surprised that he was asking her where _his_ camera was. It was like he expected her to know where everything was in their apartment. She was about to ask him why he was asking her when she realized that she had been on cleaning duty last time. She had been the one to put his camera somewhere.

“Oh. Over there,” she said, pointing under the TV console.

“Thanks.” He took the camera out of its bag before sitting down on the floor. “Does this work?”

Before she could even register what was happening, there was a clicking noise and she immediately knew that he had taken a photo of her.

“Hm,” he grinned, clearly satisfied. “I guess it works.”

He briefly showed the picture that he had taken to the _Bon Voyage_ camera before laughing to himself.

“Hey. Jeon Jungkook. I wasn’t ready for that picture!” She frowned as she pressed her hands against her hips.

“Being spontaneous is key,” he said.

As he disappeared into his room, she looked at the camera, which was still filming her. “This is why he has so many ugly photos of me stored on his phone. He’s like a ninja and he posts them on our Twitter account without informing me.”

“Do you have any photos like that of him?” the cameraman asked.

She grinned. “Of course I do, since I’ve got to survive. Here’s the one I took yesterday.”

[ ](https://ibb.co/37mcFKB)

* * *

On the way to the Incheon Airport, Hoseok, Jimin, and Jungkook talked about their potential plans when they arrived at Bergen, Norway. In the end, Jimin gave up and decided that they could think of what to do when they actually got there and Hoseok agreed. They knew Namjoon and Yoongi would come up with the plans anyway. Their members were there to be relied on after all.

Meanwhile, Jessie was passed out in the back of the minivan sitting on the opposite side of Hoseok. She was the worst at fighting sleepiness. With their hectic comeback schedule, she hadn’t gotten enough sleep, and she was taking the ride to the airport as a moment to catch up on her hours. Jungkook took advantage of this.

A high pitched scream erupted from inside of the minivan and Jessie’s eyes opened in shock as she jumped from her seat. “Oh my God,” she said in English. That usually happened whenever her natural reaction came out.

Jungkook’s phone was pointed at her face and she groaned in response. Meanwhile, he laughed. “I told you that I would get you back.”

Meanwhile, Jimin was filming her with the _Bon Voyage_ camera that he currently had. This would definitely be included in the show.

“Darn. I knew I shouldn’t have slept in the car. Eunha unnie! How could you do this to me?” she questioned as she rubbed her eyes.

“As your manager, I am responsible for being a neutral person,” Eunha informed with an innocent-but-not-so-innocent shrug from the driver’s seat.

“Jessie’s expressions are always the best,” Jungkook said with a wide grin as he replayed the video he had taken. “This is so funny. I can’t wait to show ARMY this.”

“Too bad we have to wait until _Bon Voyage_ comes out on V Live,” Jimin replied with a chuckle.

“Is it really that funny? I want to see it.”

Jessie found herself laughing along with her members as they rewatched what had happened. She already knew that as soon as this video became available online, ARMYs would make sure to take screenshots and gifs of her surprised expression. She was ready for it since their hilarious comments and replies always made her smile.

“This is so cute,” Hoseok said. “I think we should scare you more often.”

“What? No!”

Soon after Jessie’s abrupt wake up call, their van arrived at the airport. They were used to the setting except for the fact that there weren’t any journalists or fans waiting for them. To be as discreet as possible about their new travel show, their company had made sure to keep their schedules for the time being a secret.

“All right, guys. On a serious note, make sure you don’t lose anything important,” Yoongi said.

The members replied with a short yes or a nod in nonchalance. If only they had known how important his warning would become throughout the length of the trip.

* * *

After the ten hour flight, they arrived in Amsterdam to take the connecting flight to Norway. People seemed to stare at them, wondering why they were being followed by cameras. Jessie overheard a brunette woman saying to the person beside her that they must be college students filming a documentary. After all, from first glance, a person who didn’t know of K-pop would have thought that they were regular people and not celebrities. They weren’t exactly looking like fashion icons at the moment.

“Namjoon hyung is starting to lose his stuff,” Jungkook said as he walked behind the leader.

“Film this please,” Seokjin said to the director as he pointed to the back pocket of Namjoon’s jeans. His phone seemed dangerously close from falling out. “I can’t stand this.”

Jessie was worried that the cell phone screen would hit the floor and shatter. It was already hard enough to see Jungkook and Taehyung using their phones with severely cracked screens. She walked a little faster and took Namjoon’s phone into her hand.

“Look Namjoon. You lost your phone,” Seokjin said.

“Huh?” Namjoon turned his head as he reached for his pocket only to find nothing there. “Who took it?”

“I did,” Jessie said, walking next to him. She shoved it into the front pocket of his hoodie. “There. That works.”

“Even that makes me nervous,” Seokjin said. “Jessie, put it in your purse for him.”

“But hyung, I need to use it.”

“You’re not using it _now_.”

Yoongi trudged forward as he glanced back to see if his members were still with him. Thankfully they were. “We have to get to gate 32, but we’re at 13 right now,” he complained.

Jessie was glad that she had decided to take her smaller suitcase. It wouldn’t have been fun dragging the heavier one around all day. If walking to gate 32 was this tiring, she didn’t want to imagine what it would be like to find their way to their hostel later.

* * *

Jessie filmed Jungkook with one of the cameras she was given as she boarded the airplane. She laughed. “You look like a janitor who is going on vacation while still wearing his uniform,” she said as she managed to get his entire blue one piece on the camera.

“Well, I’m a stylish janitor then,” he replied over his shoulder. He stopped abruptly and Jessie nearly bumped into him in the aisle. She heard Jimin let out a “woah” as his suitcase clashed with hers.

“Jungkook, be careful,” he lightly scolded him.

“Sorry, hyung,” Jungkook quickly apologized before looking at Jessie. “This is my seat so yours must be the one behind.”

“Jessie-ah, just switch seats with me and sit next to Jungkook,” Jimin said from behind her. She turned to face him, giving him an expression that probably read ‘why?’ “I know it’s uncomfortable to sit with a stranger.”

It was, but she didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable in her place. “It’s okay,” she began to say but he shook his head.

“No, go ahead and sit here,” he said nodding his head towards his would be seat.

Jimin was always so thoughtful, caring, and selfless. Jessie had learned a lot of good traits from him over the past three years.

“Thanks,” she replied, giving him a grateful smile.

Jungkook made room for Jessie to enter their row first since he knew that she preferred having the window seat. Looking outside helped her soothe her motion sickness.

After having had slept throughout the entire ten hour flight previously, Jessie was wide awake. “Do you want to listen to some music?” Jungkook asked, leaning into her ear so that she could hear over the loud noise that usually came with a flight.

She nodded, giving him a smile. “Sure.”

As soon as she plugged in the earphone he gave her, she heard IZI’s “Emergency Room.”

She glanced over at him. “Are you planning on singing this?”

Jungkook was going to be on “Masked Singer” maybe in a month or two. The producers had reached out to him and he had gladly accepted the offer, but now he felt pressured because he had no idea which songs to prepare.

“I’m not sure yet. I don’t know if I could do it.”

The song was a rock ballad and the chorus got pretty high. However, Jungkook had some heavenly falsetto. She knew that he could take any song and turn it into his own.

“I think you could,” she encouraged him. “You can make any song sound good.”

She was being truthful. He really took any song and sang it in his own unique style. She often preferred his versions over the originals. Plus, his voice was so addicting that she would never get tired of hearing it.

He gave her a shy smile from hearing such a nice compliment. His members did that often, but when it came from Jessie, it was always more meaningful. “Thanks. I just really want to find a song that will match my voice though,” he replied.

She nodded in understanding. It was always difficult to pick a song to sing out of the thousands that existed out there.

“What about a Big Bang song?” she suddenly asked, knowing that he was a huge fan of them.

“Which one?”

“Hm… ‘If You’?” she suggested.

He scrolled through his music before the familiar strumming of the guitar began. Jessie hadn’t heard Jungkook singing this song before, but she could already imagine what it would sound like. His voice would be soft and breathy with perfect control over the transition from his chest voice to his falsetto. It would be completely emotional.

The two maknaes continued listening to more ballads and Jessie found herself falling into darkness, but it was calm and safe.

A loud voice that sounded like it was coming through a megaphone woke her up. Jessie’s eyes opened and she felt herself leaning towards the right.

 _Shit,_ she thought before quickly pulling herself up to sit straight. She had fallen asleep on Jungkook’s shoulder. She turned to him to apologize, but closed her mouth shut when she saw that he was asleep.

He looked so peaceful and youthful right then. He wasn’t wearing any makeup and this along with the close proximity allowed her to see the scar on his left cheek with full details. She had never asked him about how he had gotten it, but she had a feeling that it had a lot to do with his playfulness as a child. As she continued observing him, she even noticed the faint marks that were showing from his recovering acne. He always complained about his skin troubles, concerned about what people would say. But to her, he was beautiful no matter what. If only she could tell him that without making it seem weird.

Seeing all of these small details that she hadn't really thought about before suddenly seemed too personal, like she was intruding into his private space and she probably was. But she couldn’t stop herself from pulling away.

Her eyes trailed up to his silky brown hair, which was perfectly straight without having any styling done of course. His bangs were a little long and seemed to be poking his eyes, so her hand automatically reached up to push them away. When she realized what she had done, she froze and looked around to see if anyone had seen her. She quickly pulled her hand down to her lap and let out a sigh of relief when she could confirm that no one had noticed. She really needed to be careful about her actions. If her sister could tell that she liked him, then she was at risk for her members to notice too and even worse... ARMYs could potentially find out about her feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have work tomorrow, but I decided to stay up late to update a new chapter! What a smart decision! Not! lol. Y'all~ So excited for SNL though! I have "Boy with Luv" stuck in my head right now. You know what's crazy? My bias is actually V (always has been) and not only am I writing a Jungkook fanfic, but I think Jungkook is stealing my bias' spot! This is so confusing, but I'm going to try to feel better by reminding myself that I love all seven of them and that's all that matters. 
> 
> Thanks for reading/bookmarking/commenting! I'm happy to see you're enjoying this story so far. See you in the next chapter!
> 
> -Jane


	6. Freud Kind of Dreams

Jessie was the last member to get her suitcase unloaded from the bus. She smiled at the bus driver, thanking him for the help. Before she could start walking, her eyes caught onto a familiar looking blue suitcase. She almost brushed it off, but she had a sneaking thought that one of her members had forgotten to take it. Most of her members were already walking ahead to admire the scenery so she had to yell in order to get their attention.

“Hey! Did anyone forget their suitcase? The blue one?”

Jimin spun around very quickly, making it look like a dance move and he immediately ran over to where she stood.

“This one is mine,” he said to her, pointing at the blue suitcase.

Before Jessie could translate what he said in English, the driver already pulled the suitcase out.

“Thank you,” Jessie said and Jimin repeated with a grateful smile though it was on the smaller side due to his embarrassment.

"Oppa, please be more careful. What if you lost it? Do you have anything important in here?" she started bombarding him with questions.

"Not really since I have my passport and wallet in my backpack, but it would have been terrible to lose all of my clothes and toiletries. What would I have done if it weren’t for you? Thank you, Jessie.”

She gave him a smile as she elbowed him in the arm. “Of course. This is why you need me.”

“I need you girl," he said in English with his cute accent, referencing their song lyrics.

The cameraman interviewed them as they pulled their suitcases while walking side by side. “Jimin-ssi. Do you forget your things often?”

“Not often,” Jimin replied with a goofy smile as he glanced back to look into the camera. “But I was too excited about being here that my mind totally lost track of my suitcase. Lucky for me, Jessie is very good at keeping track of our stuff, so that we don’t lose things.”

The two members met the others by the pond.

“Jimin-ah,” Yoongi called out in a disappointed tone, but he was smiling. “How could you forget something so important as your suitcase?”

“Yeah, hyung. What were you going to do if Jessie hadn’t noticed?” Jungkook questioned.

Seokjin laughed as he pointed at Jungkook. “Look at our maknae scolding his hyung. This is funny.”

“Sorry, everyone. I’ll be more careful,” Jimin promised with an embarrassed smile.

“Think of this close call as a lesson. We can't afford to lose anything,” Yoongi said, noting that they weren't going to be taken care of by their managers like usual on this trip. This new show that they were filming was all about them doing things by themselves. “We need to be responsible over our own things, but also make sure to watch out for each other. Got it?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Although Namjoon was the leader of BTS, there were times when Yoongi’s leadership would stand out and they were times like these.

The members finally began enjoying the beautiful view of Bergen as they individually took pictures that they would most likely send to their friends and family back home.

Jessie was glad that she had decided to wear her sweatpants and hoodie because although it appeared sunny outside, the weather was quite deceiving as it was still quite chilly. She couldn’t wait till they reached their hostel because she was going to go snuggle in her bed—unless a case of bad luck ended her up having to take the living room couch. But of course even if that happened, none of the members would allow her to sleep in the living room. They still babied her.

Jessie was admiring the location when she heard Jungkook’s voice from over her shoulder. She spun around to see him aiming his Canon camera towards her. She was the type of person to forget about taking photos. On the other hand, Jungkook liked to document everything. If there were ever photos of Jessie available on their Twitter page, it was most likely thanks to Jungkook.

“I’ll take some photos of you,” he said. “Create some poses.”

Having had posed for photo shoots many times throughout the past three years, she didn’t have to think much about what to do. Yet, having Jungkook taking photos of her made her feel self-conscious. Nonetheless, she continued by making peace signs with both of her hands while smiling. Then, she spread out her arms as she placed one foot back and closed her eyes to look up into the sky like a ballerina.

After what felt like a long time, Jungkook finally gave her the okay sign. “So pretty!” he said and Jessie couldn’t tell if he meant her or the view behind her. It was probably the latter, but still she felt herself blushing and quickly turned away.

“Let me take photos for you too,” she said as she walked up to him. “Which button do you press again?”

“This one,” he said, pointing to the bigger circle on the top of the camera. “A light push helps it focus, but you have to press it down all the way to take a photo.”

She nodded before reaching out to grab the camera from him. Their fingers brushed against each other for a brief moment as it happened and Jessie bit her lip in hopes to pretend like it hadn’t affected her at all.

Jungkook took a few steps back before standing still. He lifted his right hand over his head and made a V sign with his fingers. Even after two airplane flights and a hectic few days of busy schedules, Jungkook’s eyes were bright and clear. Of course every part of Jungkook made him the way he was, but to Jessie, his doe-like eyes always stuck out the most. It was no wonder that their fans and the other members referred to him as a bunny.

Jessie pressed the button that Jungkook had told her to press, but all it did was focus the shot rather than taking a photo. She fumbled with a few seconds before sheepishly laughing.

“Um… Hold on. I’ll get it, eventually,” she said.

“Okay,” he replied, continuing to hold his pose.

“Um… Why is this just focusing?”

It was then that Yoongi stepped in, taking a photo of Jungkook with his own camera.

“Thanks,” Jessie mumbled, a little disappointed in herself that she couldn’t figure out how to take a single photo. Operating the camera on a cell phone was a hundred percent easier for someone who wasn’t exactly tech savvy like her.

“You’re next,” Yoongi said, raising his camera again and Jessie quickly put on a smile. It appeared easily whenever she was around her members since they were comfortable to be with. She heard a familiar clicking noise and Yoongi went off to find the next member to capture.

Jessie awkwardly handed back the camera to Jungkook. Photography wasn’t as easy as she had thought it would be. “How about a selca?” she suggested, trying to return the atmosphere back to normal.

“Sure,” Jungkook nodded, giving her a smile that was so infectious that her own lips curved upward.

Secretly, Jessie wanted to have more photos with Jungkook.

Before she could snap a picture, Jungkook reached his hand out towards her. “I’ll take it.”

Without really thinking of why, Jessie allowed him to take her phone from her hand. She then realized why he had done so. In Korea, it was considered “good manners” when a guy stood in front of a girl to make her face look smaller, which a lot of Koreans seemed to obsess over. So it was custom for guys to be closer to the front when it came to taking selcas.

Jessie did a flower pose by placing her hands to support her chin. Jungkook replicated it with his one hand that wasn’t holding the camera. As she saw his face through the phone screen, she once again thought back to how different he was on stage and in person. Of course both versions of him were still Jungkook, but sometimes it felt like he was two separate people. But then again, this applied to the other members as well and probably her too. Overall, the members each had a persona on stage, but their fans could always see the real sides of them through their live streams, Bangtan Bombs, and Run episodes. It was nice that their company was trusting enough to allow the members to be in charge of their own social media presences.

“I think I need to wear something warmer. I’m cold. Aren’t you cold?” Jimin asked as he let out an involuntary shiver.

“You’re wearing three layers,” Seokjin pointed out.

“I know, but I’m still a little cold.”

“Should we start walking to the hostel then?” Namjoon suggested and Jimin eagerly nodded.

Jessie was secretly cheering on the inside because she was dying to go inside where it was warm. She didn’t want to walk around anymore; she wanted to lay down and rest. Although she had been experiencing cramps, she hadn’t said a single word of complaint. Of course with the boys having been around Jessie throughout the past three years, they had grown to understand what girl things were… But it wasn’t like she was going to walk around with a neon sign over her head showing that she was on her period.

They were almost at the hostel when Seokjin stopped and turned around. “Where did Jungkook go?” he asked.

Jessie, who had been conversing with Jimin, stopped in her tracks as the members ahead of her abruptly decided to wait for the youngest member of the group.

“He’s taking pictures,” Hoseok answered.

“We need to put him on a leash or something,” Seokjin said before looking back. “Hey, Jungkook. Hurry up before you get lost!”

The youngest member ran to catch up with the rest of the group. When they reached the entrance of their hostel, they crowded around the glass doors that wouldn’t open.

“Oh, this must be why we were given the host’s number. I’ll call them right now. Just trust me guys,” Namjoon said as he dialed the phone number.

Jessie tried not to let out a sigh as she shifted her weight on one leg while resting her hands on the handle of her suitcase. Her stomach was still hurting really bad.

All of a sudden, the doors automatically opened and everyone looked at Seokjin, who had randomly pressed the green button. It was thanks to him that they could easily walk in.

“Trust who?” he questioned with a laugh. “You dummies.”

Seokjin was the type of person who wasn’t scared to be experimental. He could be quite the engineer, figuring out how to assemble things together and fix broken ware at home for any of the members.

“Do you know how to read Norwegian?” Namjoon asked with an embarrassed smile as he quickly hung up before the phone could continue ringing.

“I’ll carry it for you,” Jimin said to Jessie as he gestured towards her suitcase.

She shook her head. “I can do it.”

“No, oppa will do it for you,” he replied.

Sure, Jimin looked small, but he was still muscular and strong. Yet, he was holding a suitcase himself. Carrying two up the stairs would be difficult.

“Hyung. You hold this and I’ll carry her suitcase,” Jungkook offered, giving Jimin one of his two duffle bags.

Jessie didn’t have much upper body strength, so pulling the suitcase up the stairs would be difficult. She decided not to argue and allowed him to help her. She was often spoiled by the members. It was no wonder she didn’t know how to do many things on her own. They just didn’t let her try.

Jessie was the first one to enter the hostel after Hoseok told her to head in followed by Seokjin and Yoongi.

“There are a lot of rooms,” Jimin said, clearly pleased.

“There really are many,” Jungkook added.

Everything was white and with the sunlight coming in from all angles, the place looked modern and clean.

The issue was: how were they going to choose who slept where?

* * *

Jessie’s plans to relax were interrupted when she was dragged outside to eat with her members. Even if she wasn’t feeling well, she was still hungry and her group members would never allow her to starve. Never ever.

“I need to wash my hair,” Jungkook complained as he shook his brown locks out of his face.

Jessie took another glance at him. His hair seemed fine. It wasn’t greasy at all. But then again, Jungkook was the cleanest person she knew. Going for more than a day without washing his hair was bad for him.

“I look like a cameraman,” Hoseok said meanwhile as he walked backwards while filming the members.

If it had been Namjoon doing what he was doing, Jessie would have warned him to be careful. However, Hoseok was well-coordinated so she decided to leave him alone. She could see his smile even from the back of the group. He was always such a bright ball of sunshine.

“Let’s think about what we want to eat,” Seokjin suggested.  

“What’s famous in Norway?” Yoongi asked.

“Norway is famous for noru (*deer in Korean),” Namjoon replied with a pun.

Seokjin was the only one to laugh out loud in reaction and it broke the silence. “That was great, Rap Monster.” He lifted his hand towards him and Namjoon gave him a high five.

Jessie broke out into a smile as she and Jungkook exchanged looks because of their silly older members.

“Jessie-ah. Wasn’t that funny?” Namjoon asked.

“Not as funny as Jin oppa’s puns,” Jessie replied with a grin.

“That’s my kid,” Seokjin said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders as Namjoon pretended to look disappointed in her. “Rap Monster, you are pretty good, but not good enough to beat the master of ajusshi gags.”

“It must feel so nice to be an ajusshi,” Jungkook said with a laugh.

“Oh, yeah. It feels great,” Seokjin said sarcastically. “I love being an ajusshi.”

 _Oh, great,_ Jessie thought. _Here we go again._

It didn’t take long for the members to decide where to eat since they were too hungry and exhausted to be picky. Not that they usually were. They settled with some burgers and pasta.

After eating, the members split into smaller groups as they looked around Bergen some more. Jessie ended up becoming Jungkook’s model in all of his photos. Once again, she didn’t know how to respond when he would say _nice_ or _that’s pretty_ because she wasn’t sure if he was talking about her or the background. The members often complimented each other as a way to become a source of support, but would Jungkook really tell her that she was beautiful up to her face? He hadn’t really said anything like it before, so she figured that he just meant the background.

A few hours later, the pair returned to the hostel and one by one, the others returned too. Jessie was already under the covers as the members discussed who would take showers first. They hadn’t figured out who would sleep in which rooms yet, but no one bothered her.

She was laying in bed wearing a new change of clothes: another pair of sweatpants and a hoodie but in black rather than grey this time. She chose to keep her socks on in order to keep herself warm, since she often suffered from having cold hands and feet.

“I’ll go third,” she heard Jungkook’s voice saying from the living room.

“Let’s have Jungkook shower first,” Hoseok stated.

“Really?” Jungkook asked.

“Yeah, you said that you weren’t able to shower before coming here.”

“We have to go grocery shopping,” Seokjin’s voice said this time.

“They’re so nice.”

“Why? Who’s nice?” Seokjin asked the maknae.

“The hyungs. They said that I could shower first.”

“Oh, sure. Go ahead,” Seokjin replied.

Jessie looked up from her phone, reading tweets from ARMYs, when she saw Hoseok entering the room. “You must be tired. Go ahead and take a nap. You can rest.”

Jessie wasn’t really tired, but nodded at his words. What she didn’t realize was how eager he was to get her to sleep.

“Okay. Thanks,” she smiled.

“Of course,” he replied. “I’ll close the door so that we don’t bother you.”

* * *

Jessie wiggled away as the weight shifted on the bed and a strong body pressed against hers. She opened her eyes to see Jungkook smiling down at her. “Wake up, you little baby. How long are you going to sleep?”

 _Did he just call me a baby? He’s the baby in the group,_ she thought.

“Give me another ten minutes,” she groaned instead.

“No,” he replied. “You’ve got to wake up now because if you don’t, I’ll punish you.”

“Really?” she challenged. “And how exactly will you punish me?”

“Well, I’ll attack you… with kisses.”

All of a sudden, she felt his smooth lips pressed against her face as he kissed her everywhere while purposely making loud kissing noises. She giggled, squirming but allowing him to trail his kisses down to her neck.

Without warning, she pushed her hands against his chest and turned them over so that she was now on top of him. Jungkook was a strong male and he could have easily prevented her from getting on top, but he allowed her to do what she wanted. His hands made their way to her waist before moving down to her lower back out of regular habit. She was only in her underwear and she felt his fingers teasingly drift towards the waistline.

“Jungkook. Are you really touching my butt again?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, is there a problem? This is mine, isn’t it?”

He pressed her butt cheeks firmly, causing her to squeal before laughing. “It sure is…” She leaned closer to whisper into his ear. “Everything about me is yours.”

“Mm. That’s what I like to hear.”

She grinned before pressing her lips against his.

“EU HA HA HA HA HA HA.”

Jessie’s eyes opened and she felt disoriented for a few seconds waking up to an unfamiliar room. Then, it clicked. She was in Norway with her members to film _Bon Voyage._ Oh, and that loud and annoyingly hilarious laughter was coming from Seokjin. She wondered what was so funny for him to have interrupted her dream…

_Holy shit._

She realized how close her face had been to the bed sheets. No wonder she had felt like she had been actually kissing Jungkook. She had practically been kissing the bed sheets!

She felt like she was overheating and she wasn’t sure if it was due to being wrapped too tightly with the bed sheets or from having a wild dream about Jungkook. Sure, Jessie had dreamt about Jungkook before, but it had never been like this. This seemed way too out of line. This was totally inappropriate!

Oh, boy. She had a problem. Didn’t Freud say in his dream theory that dreams represent unconscious desires, thoughts, and motivations? So did this mean that she wanted to have sex with Jungkook? That was crazy. What did she know? For all she knew, she was just a virgin.

She didn’t need a dream analysis. She knew she was repressing her own feelings. She was aware of her secret, that she was in love with her best friend and group member, Jeon Jungkook. It wasn’t just some little crush. It was way more than that. She was in _love_ for the first time. She didn’t know when exactly her feelings had started, but somehow over the span of time from debut to now, she had fallen in love with someone she could never have and this was because of multiple reasons.

  1. He thought of her only as a friend.
  2. They were supposed to and were expected to be just friends.
  3. Their company didn’t allow them to date yet.
  4. ARMYs would be disappointed (probably not all, but most of them).



So there was only one option that was left for her. She would have to fall out of love with Jeon Jungkook. But how?

The nineteen-year-old couldn’t just pretend as if she wasn’t in love with him. That would be impossible to do when she was around Jungkook so much. She wished idols could be treated like normal people. She wished that they could have more freedom. But then again, she understood why they couldn’t be treated that way. As messed up as it was, the K-pop community didn’t give idols much freedom and of course this reflected throughout the Korean society.

She didn’t know what it was about her, but it was becoming difficult to feel satisfied with her life. It seemed like she had everything that she wanted. She was a successful K-pop idol, she had great group members, and a nice company. What else could she need?

Well, maybe a boyfriend was what she wanted. It was as simple as that, but it was still a big deal for her. It obviously was considering that she had just experienced having a hormonal dream about her best friend.

Although Jessie was a virgin, she wasn’t as innocent as she appeared to be. In fact, none of the BTS members really were. Namjoon had once been called out on broadcast when Hoseok mentioned that their computer would always get viruses. That video could be found easily on YouTube, so fans knew that their favorite idols watched porn. To be truthful, Jessie had watched it before too. The first time had been out of curiosity, then the second had been almost educational.

Yes, idols revealed a lot of things about themselves to their fans, but they still had personal lives too. Some idols dated secretly, but BTS wasn’t one of them. They had promised to tell each other everything and for now, they came to an agreement that dating wasn’t a priority for them. And so, Jessie was stuck with watching Korean dramas, reading romance novels (and occasionally erotica), along with her own fingers for her own pleasure. Although it was TMI to even think about it, she was pretty sure that her group members took care of their needs on their own too. They were all human beings with needs after all.

So yes, Jessie had some inappropriate thoughts. Whenever she saw a glimpse of Jungkook’s growingly muscular body and witnessed the way he manhandled his hyungs and sometimes her as a way of play fighting, a strange part of her became turned on. She really couldn’t help herself.

She didn’t understand how her company expected her to be in a group with seven males and not fall in love with any of them. That just didn’t make any sense at all. Now she was stuck with one-sided feelings. Even if she was allowed to date, Jungkook wouldn’t date her. Why would he when he could pick any pretty girl out there? They were surrounded by female idols often at music shows. Surely he would go for one of them. Well, that was if he actually talked to them. As selfish as she was for thinking so, Jessie was glad that Jungkook didn’t talk to girls. Just as ARMYs seemed to already know, Jungkook was shy with girls—except for Jessie. That showed that she was completely in the friendzone.

Still, there was some part of her that wanted to impress him or maybe _seduce_ would be the right word. No one wanted to show the person they liked their “ugly” sides, yet Jungkook had seen everything from her no makeup face to her lazy hair and clothes, and she didn’t know how to feel about that. It definitely did not make her feel confident in front of him.

Jungkook was into staying in shape. He was often found exercising and his biceps were huge. Once, Jessie had seen how his shirt clung to his wet body after stepping out of the swimming pool and she had realized then that the kid had some tight abs. He had the face of a baby, but his body was one of a man.

However, she had to control herself if she wanted to be careful. No matter how much she wanted to hint at Jungkook with her true feelings, she would have to keep them to herself because there really was no use in trying.

As Jessie pulled the bed sheets off her body, she fanned her warm face using her hands. She couldn't believe that Jungkook had reached for her panties in her dream and she had been so comfortable with it. She couldn’t imagine something like that ever happening in real life. She was way too self-conscious of her own body to be naked in front of someone.

Jessie tied her long and now messy hair into a high bun before opening the door to the living room.

“Perfect timing,” Seokjin said as he gestured for her to join them at the living room. “We’re going to start picking rooms.”

“Did you go somewhere?” she asked, noticing that he was wearing a jacket and that his face seemed flushed from going outside.

“Yeah, Namjoon and I went grocery shopping.”

“Already? How long was I asleep for?”

“Almost three hours,” Hoseok answered and her jaw almost dropped. “You must have been really tired.”

How had she even fallen asleep? Maybe it was the warmth and the exhaustion from the plane ride.

 _I guess I was tired,_ she thought as she sat next to Hoseok. She leaned into his back, still a little groggy from her nap. His shirt felt damp and she realized that he had just taken a shower. In fact, Jungkook had too but his hair was completely dry. It made sense since he liked to blow dry his hair.

Jessie felt weird looking at him after having such an inappropriate dream about him. If only he knew what she had dreamt about. He’d probably run in the opposite direction.

“Can I just have the room that I slept in?” Jessie asked with a sneaky expression, knowing that she had slept in the big room with the two beds.

“Now that wouldn’t be fun,” Seokjin said.

Jessie suddenly realized that it was possible for her to end up sleeping in the same bed as Jungkook. Earlier in their career, the managers had always made sure to keep her separate from the boys when it came to sleeping arrangements, but as they grew closer and trusting of each other they no longer cared. However, although she and Jungkook had shared hotel rooms before, she had never slept with him in the same bed before and that was a risk.

“We can do 1 room for 3 people and 2 rooms for 2 people each,” Namjoon explained.

“Let’s have 1 person in the living room,” Seokjin added.

“Oh, wait. We forgot about Taehyung,” Hoseok reminded everyone.

The members decided to assign numbers and pick them out individually to determine who would be in which room.

“Honestly, I don’t want Namjoon,” Seokjin said as he waited for everyone to pull out a number.

“I don’t want to share a room with Jin hyung,” Namjoon said in response.

“I got the living room,” Jimin revealed, earning a disappointed look from Yoongi.

“Come on," Yoongi complained. "Let’s open it up together.”

“Sorry,” Jimin said, feeling bad as he let out a small smile.

“We should open it at the count of three,” Jungkook suggested. "1, 2, 3."

Jessie opened up her slip of paper and saw the number three written on it.

“Number 1,” Jungkook said.

“That’s me,” Yoongi said before they hugged so fast that no one could tell who had hugged first.

“Number 3,” Hoseok said.

“Me too,” Jessie said as she looked up from the small piece of paper that determined that they were going to be sleeping in the large room. Thank goodness she wasn’t paired with Jungkook. “Ha. I do get to stay in the room after all.”

She gave Seokjin a playful “merong,” sticking her tongue out.

“No!” Seokjin yelled, indicating that he and Namjoon had to share a room. After all, they were the only two left.

No one wanted to share rooms with Namjoon because he snored way too loud. Jessie had to admit that she was glad that Hoseok was going to be her roommate because he was pretty quiet and chill. Her mom would probably go nuts seeing her sleeping in the same bed as a person of the opposite sex, but Hoseok was like a brother to her. Plus, Hoseok had a sister whom he treated like a total queen. He wouldn’t do anything to her.

“I’m getting hungry again,” Jungkook stated.

“Let’s start making dinner.”

Jessie stood up from the couch easily, feeling so much better now that she had slept for three hours. That ibuprofen had finally kicked in.

“I’ll make the ramen,” Yoongi said.

“I’ll chop the onions,” Jessie volunteered since they were going to make sausage stir fry.

She laughed as she started chopping the onions because she suddenly thought back to when Namjoon had to cut them on _Weekly Idol._

“That was hilarious,” Seokjin agreed.

"And scary at the same time," Jimin added.

Jessie felt her eyes starting to burn, but decided that she could fight against the pain for just a little longer. However, her front didn’t last.

“Ow, my eyes are stinging,” Jessie cried to herself as she shut her eyes before opening them, only to close them tightly again because it hurt too much to keep them open.

“Go wash your face quickly. I’ll chop the rest,” Hoseok said, urging her to leave the kitchen.

“I have to cut the sausages too,” she said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll cut them. Go, quickly,” he said and she complied.

"Are you okay?" Jimin asked with concern. "Do you want me to lead you to the bathroom?”

She shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. Thanks.”

Jessie walked past her members and a cameraman as she found her way towards the bathroom. She was annoyed that this had happened to her. It normally didn't happen, but she hadn't gotten the chance to wash her face since they has left Korea. The natural oils on her face had obviously gotten into her eyes when she had teared up from the onions.

“Ow,” she groaned, bumping her shoulder into the wall.

“What happened?” a curious voice asked.

She didn’t even have to open her eyes to know that it was Jungkook who had spoken.

“Onions.”

She felt a hand on her wrist, which led her down the hallway. Next, she heard the flicker of a light being turned on.

“Thanks,” she said to Jungkook before reaching to turn on the faucet.

Meanwhile, Jungkook returned to what he had been doing before Jessie had bumped into the wall. He fumbled around with the laundry machine before sighing as he stood up. This was too confusing and he couldn’t even ask Namjoon or Jessie for help because it wasn’t in English.

“Boo!”

Two hands were placed on his shoulders. He was too focused on getting the laundry machine to work that he didn’t even bother to react. Instead, his hand made its way to one of the hands, patting it gently before sighing.

“Still haven’t figured it out?”

He shook his head, turning around to see Jessie. She looked so fresh faced without makeup. Without makeup, he could even see her face when it turned pink which happened whenever she got teased by the members and it was amusing to see. The loose strands of hair that framed her face were wet and clinging to her cheeks.

Hoseok joined the two maknaes and the trio worked together to figure it out. It was funny that the three members were being so serious about the entire situation.

Jessie stood up and took a step back because her legs were starting to grow numb. The Asian squat didn’t really work too well for her.

“I’ve never seen anyone try so hard with their laundry. I just throw in some detergent and that’s it,” she said, grinning at the camera.

“Are two packs enough?” Jungkook asked.

“One will be fine,” Hoseok replied with a laugh.

“I’m going to go check on the food,” Jessie said as she made her way towards the delicious smelling kitchen.

She felt proud of herself for being able to act completely normal in front of Jungkook again. She had to admit that those random acting sessions with Taehyung had actually ended up becoming beneficial for her.

“How’s it going?” she asked.

“Wanna try?” Seokjin asked and she nodded. She hadn’t eaten much during lunch due to her cramps, so she was excited to take a bite. He blew on the sausage to cool it before feeding her with the chopsticks.

She chewed twice before letting out a noise of appreciation. “Mm.”

“The taste is okay?”

She nodded, giving him a thumbs up. “Better than okay. It's yummy.”

“Hyung, me too,” Jungkook said, suddenly appearing from behind her.

Jessie wasn’t a short girl, but she felt small in between Seokjin and Jungkook who were both on the taller side within BTS.

She couldn't understand how this eighteen-year-old was such a man and a baby at the same time. She couldn't imagine what he'd look like in a few years. He was probably going to become so muscular that the members would be scared to mess with him.

“Okay, the ramen is finished,” Yoongi announced.

“I’ll set the table,” Jimin said.

Minutes later, Jessie found herself sitting next to Jungkook waiting for the other members to sit down too. The food looked tasty and the delicious aroma taunted their patience.

The lights suddenly turned off and Jessie looked at Jungkook with questioning eyes.

He shrugged, going along with it. “I guess we will have a party now,” Jungkook said. “...In celebration of our trip.”

All of a sudden, Namjoon appeared with two candles, the fire becoming the main source of light.

“Happy Come-of-Age Day,” the members began to sing. “Happy Come-of-Age Day. Happy Come-of-Age Day, dear our maknaes. Happy Come-of-Age Day.”

Jessie now understood why Hoseok had been so eager to get her to sleep, even shutting the bedroom door for her. The members had been trying to discreetly come up with a way to celebrate their adulthood.

Together, the maknaes blew out the candles and the lights came back on along with the bright smiles of the happy members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the long wait! I started school again and I couldn't find the time/motivation to write a new chapter while stressing about work at the same time. Anyway, I don't want to lead myself into a rant, so let's end it here!
> 
> I really appreciate the support that I've received for this story so far! Thank you so much for leaving kudos and comments :) Seeing them really makes me want to continue writing. I intend for this story to be a long journey of forming realistic friendships and relationships along with experiencing real life issues that people can go through every day and I plan on accomplishing this by continuing to follow the BTS timeline... So I don't know how long it will take me to get to that point (and by that I mean like catching up to the year 2019 for example), but I hope to continue seeing you for the rest of the long ride. Just wanted to put this out there!
> 
> Also, it's 1AM right now and I haven't really gotten the chance to look over this chapter, so I apologize for any spelling/grammar issues if you catch any. I'll fix them later lol.
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading!


	7. Awkward Encounters

Seokjin ended up becoming an unlucky loser. After being the one who had gone grocery shopping and done most of the cooking, he now had to do the dishes as well. Feeling bad for him, Jessie offered to wash the dishes instead. However, Seokjin refused to allow her to take his place and Jessie wouldn’t back down, so eventually they had to come down to a settlement: Seokjin would wash the dishes and Jessie would dry them. 

Jessie was being unimpressed by Seokjin’s dad jokes when Jungkook sauntered in looking like a giant marshmallow in his white zip-up hoodie. 

“Yugyeom wants to do a video call,” the maknae said as he stood behind her. “Want to come join?”

It wasn’t unusual that they would text each other before starting a FaceTime. With them being K-pop idols, they were often at different locations at different times. They couldn’t always reach each other without planning the communication first. 

Jessie felt excited about talking to Yugyeom. She hadn’t seen him in a while and he was one of her good friends. Jungkook had a few 97 liner idol friends from different boy groups, but Yugyeom was probably one of the closest friends he had. So naturally, Yugyeom became close with Jessie as well. 

“Sure,” she replied eagerly. “I’ll come as soon as I finish.”

“No, no. You go ahead,” Seokjin urged her. 

“Are you sure?” Jessie asked. There were still a few plates to clean.

He nodded without hesitation. “Yeah, there isn’t much left to do. I can do the rest. Thanks for the help.”

“Of course! Anything for you,” Jessie said before following Jungkook to the living room couch. 

The space was now empty with the camera crew gone and the members in their assigned rooms. Crossing her arms, Jessie watched as Jungkook called Yugyeom. It didn’t take long for him to answer the video call. 

“Hey. What’s up my friends?” his friendly and energetic voice greeted them. 

“Long time no see!” Jessie said in response as she and Jungkook waved at him.

“What’s up, YG?” Jungkook asked with a wide grin. “I hope everything’s been well.”

“Yeah, everything has been great," the GOT7 member smiled. "It seems like you guys have been pretty busy as of lately. It took you a few days to reply to me, _JK._ " He made sure to respond back with his nickname. 

Jessie looked over at Jungkook before replying. “You know him. He’s so bad at texting.”

It was true. Jungkook, although tech savvy, was difficult to get in touch with through text messages. There was no clear reason, but he did often mention that he preferred phone calls.

Yugyeom feigned disappointment. “I thought you were my friend.”

“You are! I’m sorry," Jungkook said with a laugh. “To tell you the truth, I opened your text and then forgot.”

"You jerk," Yugyeom said with a laugh that sounded similar to Jungkook’s. Sometimes, they were like twins. 

Jessie noticed that Yugyeom was sitting in a hotel room. 

“Where are you right now?” she asked, unsure of what he was currently up to.

Although they were good friends, it was difficult to be in touch every day when they had such different schedules—not to mention, different companies. 

“I’m in China right now for a concert. The soundcheck is in half an hour, which is why I thought it'd be nice to call you guys. You know, to catch up and also speed up time.”

“Oh, so you’re using us,” Jessie accused but with a grin. 

“Exactly.”

The three of them laughed together before shifting the conversation to the subject of their show, _Bon Voyage_. Yugyeom said that he was envious about their trip. He and his members hadn't done a show like that yet. 

Jessie lifted her head up from Jungkook's phone screen and saw Seokjin coming out of the kitchen.

"Oppa, come say hi."

"Okay," he agreed before sitting on the other side if Jungkook so that he could fit into the camera frame. “Hey Yugyeom. How are you? You’ve been well, right?”

“Yes, hyung,” Yugyeom nodded, bowing his head. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been pretty well,” Seokjin answered, giving him a thumbs up. “When is your next comeback?”

“Our company has been thinking maybe September or October,” Yugyeom revealed.

“Oh, nice. I guess we’ll be seeing you around then.”

“You’re having a comeback in the fall too?” Yugyeom asked, excitedly.

“Hyung, you can’t give him top secret information like this,” Jungkook pretended to complain when he was clearly smiling.

Yugyeom rolled his eyes. “Yeah because I’m totally going to reveal this to the public."

Normally, it would be awkward or could create tension knowing that two popular idol groups were going to make a comeback at the same time. However, GOT7 and BTS were friendly with each other. Winning on the music shows didn't matter that much to them as it did for their companies. They would rather just promote together to be able to hang out in the dressing rooms. Besides, as long as their fans were happy and supported their music through sales, they would make it okay.

Seokjin stifled a yawn using his hand. "Wow, I'm tired. I should head into my room to rest now." 

"Yeah, hyung. You should get some rest. I’ll talk to you later," Yugyeom replied before Seokjin gave him a wave and left the living room. 

Seeing that Seokjin hadn't throw a dad joke at him before saying goodbye, Jessie realized that he really was exhausted. If he was missing out on the chance to make Yugyeom—who always laughed at his jokes—laugh, then Seokjin’s battery was completely out. 

"Hey," Yugyeom's voice brought Jessie back to the conversation. "The next time we hang out, the three of us should go bowling."

"Bowling?" Jungkook repeated. "Is that what you're into these days?"

Yugyeom nodded with a big smile. "It's really fun. You’ve played before, haven’t you?"

"I went with my dad when I was little, but that's about it," Jungkook said. "I feel like it's a lot harder than it looks."

"But you're Jeon Jungkook so you'll probably bowl a strike each time anyway," Yugyeom said, half joking and half being serious. 

It was unnecessary to say that Jungkook was good at everything. Everyone who knew him was already aware of the fact that he was athletic, super well-coordinated along with being musically and artistically talented. He was just the perfect combination. Truly gifted. 

Suddenly, Jungkook lifted his right arm and brought it over Jessie’s head before resting it over her shoulders. During their past few years of friendship, Jungkook had done this to her many times. It was a casual and normal thing. But now, Jessie felt like it wasn’t normal at all. Not when she was stirring up such a huge crush on him. 

"What about you Jessie?"

Yugyeom’s question caught her off guard and put her on the spot. Clearing her throat, she thought back to what they had been talking about before she drifted away from the conversation. 

 _Bowling. We were talking about bowling,_ she thought. 

All she could remember about her bowling experience was using bumpers as a child and getting the ball into the gutter without them at an older age. In the rare times that she had succeeded in having the bowling ball going straight down the lane, she would knock down one or maybe two pins if she was lucky.

"I've played a few times... But I'm going to be in last place if I play with you two and that’s for sure,” she said, settling for more of a vague answer. 

She knew that Yugyeom and Jungkook weren’t ones to judge. However, she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed in front of the two athletic people to tell them that she was terrible at bowling. 

“Nah. Maybe Jungkook would beat you, but I'm not that good yet so you could do better than me,” Yugyeom replied.  

Jessie knew that he was just saying that to make her feel better, but she smiled and nodded anyway. 

"Woah. It's already been half an hour?" Yugyeom asked as he glanced at the hotel room clock behind him. "I guess I'd better get going now."

"Don't work too hard,” Jessie reminded him.

Yugyeom gave her an okay sign with his fingers. “I’ll talk to you guys later. Have fun!”

“You too. Good luck with the concert,” Jungkook said.

The three friends waved through the phone screens before ending the call. 

Now that Jungkook had put his phone away, Jessie realized how close she was sitting next to him. His arm was still draped over her shoulders and she began to imagine that this would be exactly what it would be like if she were his girlfriend. 

 _Oh no. I’m having dangerous thoughts again._ She panicked inside. 

Clearing her throat for the second time that she had been around Jungkook, she leaned forward and sat up from the couch. Thankfully, her quick movement made sure not to make things awkward. After all, she had just escaped from Jungkook’s hold. 

So… What was she supposed to do now? 

She really needed to work on that whole trying-to-be-normal-around-Jungkook thing. How could he be so comfortable but nerve-racking to be around at the same time? Her feelings were so damn confusing.

Jessie stretched her arms out before saying, "I should take a shower.”

Right after, she wondered if that was an awkward thing to say in front of her male friend. But then again, she had said those words to herself rather than to him and also, Jungkook was just a friend—just as she kept reminding herself. 

Not even waiting to see if Jungkook would say anything back in response to her statement, she made her way to the bedroom that she was sharing with Hoseok. The main dancer was laying on his stomach in bed watching a movie on his laptop. She opened her suitcase and pulled out her pink and white striped satin pajamas that Taehyung had gotten her for her birthday earlier in the year. He owned the blue and white version of it and had decided that she needed to match with him. 

Jessie wasn’t a pajamas type of girl because she preferred wearing baggy clothes to bed. However, since she had received the present, she decided to make use of it. Seeing the garments again reminded her of Taehyung. She couldn’t wait for him to join them on their trip. She hoped that the rest of his drama shooting went by smoothly and that she would see him soon. 

Jessie made her way out into the living room and saw Jungkook on his laptop, plugging in the USB cord to transfer his photos from his camera. As an eager attempt to avoid him, she quickly ran into the hallway. Once she was inside of the bathroom, she locked the door before proceeding to turn on the water. Adjusting the balance of the hot and cold, she let the water run for it to reach a good warm temperature as she peeled off her sweatpants and sweatshirt. She unclasped her white bra before shimmying out of her randomly bright colored pink underwear. She was glad that she didn’t get any blood on it. It seemed like her flow this time around was less intense. 

She threw away the pad before stepping into the shower. The warm water felt so nice and relaxing as it traveled down her skin. Whenever she was on her period, she became lazy and it was always difficult for her to get herself to get into the shower. However, once she was in there, she had trouble coming out. 

After going through her steps of using body wash and shampoo, she spent an extra minute or two “rinsing,” but it was just an excuse for her to stay in the warmth of the shower for just a little bit longer. However, she knew that she really needed to step out before she wasted more water. 

Reluctantly, she shut off the water source and it became quiet again. That was when she realized that she had forgotten to turn on the fan and of course the mirror had already fogged up. As she pulled open the shower curtains, she looked for a towel.

 _Crap,_ she thought. Her heart jerked in her chest as horror took over her situation. 

For a long moment, she stood frozen in the bathtub unsure of what to do. She didn't even care of how cold she was starting to get. Finally, she started to move again by squeezing out the water from her hair. Then, she stepped out while being careful not to slip on the bathroom tiles. It was not going to be fun drying the puddles off the floor later.

Tentatively, she walked over to the door, unlocked it, and turned the knob. Letting out a nervous sigh, she peeked her head out although she saw nothing but an empty hallway. 

"Can someone help me over here?" she called out, her voice sounding strangely frail. 

A door squeaked open. 

"What did Jessie say?" Jimin's voice asked.

"Uh, don’t worry about it. I'll check on her," Jungkook said this time. 

Next, there was a soft noise of a door closing, which meant that Jimin had gone back into his room. That meant that Jungkook was coming… She heard quick shuffling of footsteps and was soon met with his concerned face.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, seeing that her head was peeking through the door. Her hair was still very wet and drops of water were still tracing her face. 

"Um… Not exactly. Could you get me a towel? I didn't realize that we didn't have any new ones left in here."

She was so used to being in hotels that she had forgotten that she needed to make sure to grab a towel before taking a shower outside of their home. 

"Oh yeah. We did the laundry earlier. Hold on a second," he said before disappearing. He reappeared only a couple of seconds later with a white towel in his hand. "You must be cold. Here.”

"C-can you close your eyes?" she requested as her face reddened. It was just this door that was dividing Jungkook’s view from her naked body. 

"Oh. S-sure," he stuttered, his face as equally flushed as hers. 

He immediately shut his eyes and Jessie opened the door just a little more to allow her arm to reach out. Because there was a mirror right behind her, she was careful not to reveal too much of herself. She was definitely not ready to reveal her bare self to anyone, let alone Jungkook.

"Thanks," she said once she took the towel from him.

He opened his eyes again, but avoided looking towards her for which she was thankful for. He nodded, but didn’t say anything before walking back to the living room. 

Closing the door again, Jessie chastised herself for not having been careful. How could she have forgotten a towel? Having lived with seven males for three years, she had always been responsible in order to avoid situations like these. 

Trying not to think too hard about the awkward and embarrassing moment, she continued by drying her hair with the towel before using it to dry the rest of her body. The fresh smell of shampoo lingered in the air as she did so and she was reminded of one of the familiar scents that Jungkook used. 

Jungkook was the type of person to use what he always used rather than diverting to something new when it came to anything with scents. He liked using fresh, cool, and soapy products. It was why he always smelled so clean. Jessie had used his shampoo since it had been sitting there on the corner of the tub and now, she smelled just like him. She didn’t know why, but it made her feel giddy inside. 

After getting dressed, she left the bathroom with the fan still on so that the air could be ventilated. Not bothering to dry her hair any further because she liked to stick with air drying when she wasn’t at the hair salon, she went to go join Jungkook who was now leaning against the couch, his legs stretched out far enough underneath the coffee table to touch the other side. 

She felt better now, all clean from the warm shower. She sort of wished that the camera staff was filming her now instead of earlier when she had looked a mess. For some reason—although it wasn’t a feeling she experienced often, she felt that she looked the prettiest whenever she just got out of the shower—as strange as that could be. Aside from that, Taehyung would have been happy to see her finally wearing the pajamas that he had bought her. She was aware that there were two cameras placed in the living room for some behind the scenes footage, but she wasn’t sure if anything recorded now would be included or not. 

“What are you watching?” she asked while leaning over to see the laptop screen. 

Jungkook was smiling with satisfaction, looking proud. “I’m watching people reacting to our music video,” he explained just as Jessie’s eyes glanced at a teenage girl who was dancing with excitement in her chair. 

She noticed that the girl was definitely an ARMY with a poster of each of the members, including her, on the bedroom wall. She appreciated fans like her because it wasn’t always that every member was liked and appreciated the same way. Jessie understood both sides though. People were allowed to choose favorites. 

“Oh, I found a video of a little kid dancing to ‘Save Me’. Let me show you that one. He’s so cute.”

Jungkook’s fingers moved extremely quickly over the keyboard and the video was pulled up almost instantaneously. The video that he showed her was only twenty seconds because the mother had only filmed the chorus of the song, but those twenty seconds were enough to make Jessie happy. She loved finding out who their youngest fans were. Ever since she had started watching the show _Return of Superman_ , she started to develop feelings of wanting children. Of course she didn’t want them now, but later on—sometime in the future. Apparently, Jungkook who was still a kid in her eyes though they were technically the same age, now loved kids too. Something about that made him appear even more attractive. 

"It makes me feel so happy to see people singing and dancing to our songs," Jungkook commented. 

Truthfully, the members each spent a lot of time monitoring how they performed and how their fans responded to them through watching reaction videos and reading comments left on their YouTube content. Before, there hadn’t been too many of those, but now there were so many that it was difficult to keep up. 

Jessie nodded in response to Jungkook’s words before letting out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I know. Remember when we were completely nobodies?"

“I’ll never forget that,” he said. He would be forever grateful for meeting his members and having ARMY by their side. 

"Hey you guys," Hoseok interrupted and the two maknaes looked up to see him standing by the door frame of his bedroom. “It’s getting late. You should go to sleep now."

“Okay,” Jessie agreed. “Good night.”

“Good night,” Jungkook replied.

Jessie was glad that she had brushed her teeth right after dinner because now she didn’t have to worry about it. Following Hoseok into their room, she took the side of the bed that was farthest away from the door because he had already gotten onto the side that was closer to it. That was because he knew that Jessie always liked to sleep away from the door for some reason. To Jessie, this was a preference that had developed from her childhood. She felt safer being away from the door. 

“We’re going to get up early tomorrow,” Hoseok made sure to remind her when he saw Jessie reaching for her phone. 

She groaned thinking about only being able to get five hours of sleep. Normally that would have been pretty decent for living on a crazy sleepless K-pop idol life, but she was still terribly sleepy from their recent promotional schedules. 

“Okay. Let me just finish sending this text,” she said. “You can turn off the light if you want.”

Hoseok shifted on his side of the bed to reach his hand towards the lamp. The light switched off and the room became completely dark with just Jessie’s phone screen being lit. Jessie thought it was fascinating how it was night time in Norway, yet it looked like there was broad daylight outside due to the midnight sun. She was still astonished by learning about that phenomenon, but she had nearly forgotten about it because of the blackout rollers which prevented traces of sunlight from coming in through the windows. 

Although the blackness of the room was starting to make her eyes feel more drowsy, Jessie’s mind trailed back to the response that she was forming. Jungkook’s mom had texted her on Kakaotalk after receiving photos that Jungkook had taken on his phone from earlier in the day. The woman really couldn’t be any sweeter. She had written: 

_“Jessie-ah. I saw the photos that Jungkook sent me and it looks like you’re all having an amazing time. Also, you keep getting prettier! Your smile is very beautiful, so don’t forget to put it on every day. I hope you have a great rest of the trip!”_

Jessie typed and backspaced a bunch of times and she couldn’t understand why. It wasn’t like she needed to impress Jungkook’s mom. After a total of three minutes, she finally sent her response:

_“Thank you so much for your kind words. I’ll remember to keep smiling!~ By the way, I’ll send you some photos/videos of Jungkook throughout the trip to keep you updated. I know he rarely sends you any, though he should!!!”_

With a contented smile, Jessie plugged her phone into the charger and set it aside on the nightstand that was beside her. 

“Good night,” Hoseok mumbled in English.

“Good night!”

* * *

Hoseok was a good member to share a bed with. He was great at sticking to his side of the bed and he didn’t steal the blanket during the night either. Also, he didn’t snore, which was another plus.

Jessie woke up the next morning only because Hoseok forced her too. She was a light sleeper so he only had to wake her up once for her to fully be awake, but it was difficult to get her to get off the bed. Pulling the hood of her sweatshirt over her tangled hair, she made her way towards the kitchen where a cameraman was already filming Jungkook, who was eating cereal and a banana. 

Jessie had almost never eaten breakfast until she had started living with her members. Jungkook especially couldn’t go anywhere on an empty stomach. It was thanks to him that she was now healthily eating breakfast each morning. 

Grabbing a bowl, she poured some cereal and milk before starting to chow it down. She allowed Jimin to steal a spoon of her food when he came into the kitchen. 

“How did you sleep?”

“Pretty well. I think I passed out as soon as I closed my eyes,” Jessie answered Jimin’s question. 

“That’s good. Jungkook, I could see that you were sleeping well too,” Jimin pointed out.

“I can sleep well anywhere,” Jungkook said, sounding proud. As he smiled with his tired eyes, he reminded Jessie of a young boy who was getting ready to go to school. 

Jessie stifled a yawn by covering her mouth. “Ugh. I’m still tired,” she complained. 

“Guys. Should we do a V Live right now?” Seokjin asked as he put on a pink hat over his head.

"That sounds like a good idea. We can hint at where we are and what we're doing," Namjoon said. Noticing that the members were still getting ready to leave the hostel, he added, "Let's meet in the living room in a few minutes."

“In a few minutes?” Jessie repeated, walking over to the sink to wash her bowl and spoon. “What do I do? That’s not enough time. I need to fix my hair because it looks like a bird’s nest.”

Jungkook scooched out of his chair before walking over to here. “Here, I’ll wash the dishes. You go get ready.”

“But you need to get ready too.”

“Yeah, but I don’t need to spend time fixing my hair,” he grinned cheekily.

“Ugh, you and your perfectly straight hair,” she said in response before breaking into a smile. “Thanks. You’re the best.”

“I know!”

Jessie scurried into the bathroom only to see it occupied, which wasn’t shocking. She went back to her bedroom and found her hair brush. Carefully, she went through and unwinded the tangles in her hair. Because her hair was naturally on the wavy side, it easily succumbed to the formation of tangles during the night, especially when she let it air dry. She was envious of some of her other members who had nicer hair that didn’t need styling. 

After finishing with her hair, Jessie had slipped into a pair of blue jeans with a pink shirt and a green jacket over it. She was now in the bathroom brushing her teeth while hoping that her members wouldn’t start the V Live without her. However, it turned out that they did. 

"Hello everyone," she heard Namjoon saying.

"Where's Jessie?" Seokjin asked.

"I'm coming!"

She ran into the living room, skidding to a stop before sitting on the wooden floor in front of the couch where her members sat. 

“2, 3,” Namjoon counted.

“Hello, we are BTS,” they greeted together in perfect unison. 

“Everyone, Jin oppa copied me today,” Jessie said, gesturing to his pink shirt. 

"What are you talking about? I wore this first."

Before Jessie could object, Jimin spoke suggesting for her to sit on the couch. Yoongi quickly shifted over to make room for her and she ended up sitting in between him and Jungkook. Because of how awkward the angle was in the tight space, she had to put her legs across Jungkook and Jimin’s legs. Her feet ended up resting on Seokjin’s lap.  

“Hey! Why are you putting your dirty feet on me?” Seokjin questioned.

“They’re not dirty!”

“Yes, they are!”

Jessie mischievously looked at him before lifting her sock covered foot towards his nose. ”Wanna smell?” 

“Ahhh- Wait a second,” he pretended to be surprised. “Oh. I actually don’t smell anything.”

“I told you. I have the cleanest feet in BTS.”

“Hey, that doesn’t justify you putting your feet on my lap. You’re disrespecting your elder right now.”

“Oh, it must be so nice to be old,” Jungkook started again.

“Yeah, I'm old and it feels great! What are you going to do about it?"

Jungkook ended up laughing at Seokjin's ajusshi speaking tone again. 

“Anyway everyone," Namjoon interrupted, trying to get his members to quiet down. "It was ‘Coming of Age Day’ for Jungkook and Jessie yesterday.”

As they continued with their V Live, Seokjin ended up holding Jessie’s feet throughout the entire time and that was a silent way of letting the fans know that he had only been joking about them. 

* * *

The members’ day began with an interesting start with a viewing of a parade. Then, they split into groups to do some sightseeing and Jessie thankfully joined the one that took the cable car both up and down the hill. Later, they walked back to the entrance of the location after hearing from the staff that Taehyung had arrived and Jessie was the first one to see him. 

Yelling his name, she ran towards him as he dramatically opened his arms, waiting to hug her. She wrapped her arms around him and he did the same when she reached him. 

“I missed you, my dongsaeng,” he said, pretending to cry.

“Are you guys filming a drama or what?” Yoongi laughed. 

“Speaking of a drama, how was the last day of filming?” Jessie asked, pulling away from Taehyung.

“It went well,” he smiled, giving her a thumbs up. “I’m excited for it to come out.”

Jessie couldn’t wait for it either. She and everyone else would have to wait until December, which was the intended month for the release date. 

“You dyed your hair?” she asked, seeing that his hair was no longer bright red as it had been the last time she had seen him. It was now a tone of brown. 

Jessie believed that dying hair was fun and that it was a core part in change of concepts and such, but she really couldn’t ignore the fact that it really caused a lot of damage to their hair—no matter how many hair treatments that they got. 

“Yeah, does it look okay?”

“Of course,” Jimin answered. “You suit every color.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Taehyung smiled. “Wow, I really missed you guys.”

“Really?” Yoongi questioned. 

“This really feels like a reunion,” Jungkook added. 

“Taehyung,” Jimin called.

“We had a lot of fun,” Hoseok told him.

“It’s awesome up there,” Namjoon said as he took a seat next to Taehyung on the bench. “What were you doing here though? Were you waiting for us?”

“I was waiting for you,” Taehyung said. “Do you know what I was doing?”

“What?” Namjoon asked. 

Taehyung stood up all of a sudden and started lip syncing to the song playing on his phone. The members were feeling some strong second hand embarrassment.

“Good job. Let’s go,” Hoseok said, leading Namjoon and Seokjin away. 

“Stop it,” Jessie said as she hugged Taehyung tight so that he couldn’t move around anymore. He flopped in her arms like a fish and it was funny because he was still taller than her.

“Ah, I missed this,” Taehyung said with another smile. “Jungkook, get over here. I missed you too, you punk.”

He pulled both of the maknaes under each arm, resting them over their shoulders.

“So tell me. What did I miss?”

“Today, Namjoon oppa forgot his bag so then we made him do a freestyle rap knowing that he would have to take the cable car back up the hill to retrieve it. But then, it turned out that the staff had it the entire time…”

Taehyung nodded eagerly as he listened to her story like a diligent parent would. He was happy to be with his members again. 

“Taehyung, have you eaten?” Jimin asked.

“Not really.”

“You must be hungry then.”

“Let’s go grab some food now,” Seokjin suggested. 

“Where should we eat?” Hoseok asked. 

“It’s going to be hard to find a place because today’s a holiday,” Namjoon replied. 

“Yeah, it’s packed everywhere,” Yoongi stated. 

“Let’s split up then,” Namjoon said, devising a plan. “We have too many people, so it would be hard to get around.”

“Then should we split into seafood vs. meat lovers?” Jungkook asked. 

“Sure,” Hoseok said. 

“We will find something good at the seafood market,” Jungkook said.

“Meat?” Jimin asked, pointing at Taehyung.

“I think I want seafood,” Taehyung replied. 

“I want meat,” Namjoon said. 

“I want meat too, since we had seafood yesterday,” Hoseok said.

"Me too," Yoongi added. 

“What should we do? The four of us should get going," Hoseok suggested. 

“Should we trying going that way?” Jimin asked, pointing across the street. 

“V hyung. What about you?” Jungkook asked.

“I want seafood.”

“Seafood? Me too,” Jungkook said, earning a nod of agreement from Seokjin. 

“Jessie, what do you want to eat?” Jimin asked.

Jessie was always so indecisive that even deciding on whether she wanted meat or seafood was difficult. 

“Mm…” She began to think.

“Come eat seafood with us,” Jungkook said and just like that, she made her decision. But of course she made sure not to make that too noticeable. Yet, Seokjin still noticed. 

“These two are inseparable.”

* * *

 

Seokjin, Taehyung, Jessie, and Jungkook settled for Thai food. They ordered six dishes, which they shared altogether. The amount of food that they were eating was no big surprise with how Jungkook and Seokjin had big appetites. 

“Try some of this too,” Jungkook said, pushing a spoon full of fried rice towards her.

Jessie suddenly remembered the comments that their fans had written, pointing out how she and Jungkook had shared many indirect kisses. She never really thought about it like that before until now. It was supposed to be a normal thing. Sharing food like this was a big part of Korean culture. It wasn’t supposed to be unusual, but with Jungkook it was. Because it was much more intimate. 

Trying not to think too much of it, she forced herself to lean forward and eat the food. She was glad that the restaurant was a little dark because no one could see her red face. 

“Isn’t it good?” Jungkook asked. 

She nodded while covering her mouth with her hand to speak. “It’s really good.”

“Drink some water too,” Seokjin reminded her, knowing that she had trouble digesting food sometimes and would get sick. This was preventative. 

Little things like these showed how much her members really cared about her and she cared about them the same way. Jessie wanted BTS to remain like this forever.

Their fans had no clue, but they had talked about disbanding earlier on in their career. But after careful consideration, they decided to keep trying. They were definitely more successful now in the sense that their name was a little more recognizable, but who knew how long this would last? How long would they stay relevant? 

Jessie had no idea, but she hoped that they could stay together for as long as possible.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won’t update the next chapter until I get at least five new comments! I’m sorry. I really don't want to be that person, but it isn't motivating to write a new chapter when I don’t get much feedback for posting one. Anyway, I appreciate it if you have returned to continue reading this story and if you are a new reader, thank you so much for stopping by! I hope to hear more from you readers soon :) 
> 
> Also, I know that in the second episode of Bon Voyage Season 1, Suga wasn’t around. Apparently, he was sleeping, but I made him stick around in this chapter because why not? Lol. 
> 
> Btw, it is currently past 2 a.m. and I am too tired to edit what I wrote now so if there are any mistakes in my writing, I apologize. I'll be back to revise later.!


	8. Oops, I Lost it Again

The next day, the members took a ferry to a small village called Flåm. Even with the Dramamine that she’d taken, Jessie still suffered through mild sea sickness throughout the journey. So when they started exploring, Jessie made sure to take her time absorbing the fresh air around her before making her way into the souvenir store with Hoseok, Jimin, and Jungkook. They ended up spending most of their time inside but also outside the store where there were varieties of hats and accessories to entertain them. Jimin was trying on an ushanka when Hoseok started calling him “G-min Dragon” and singing G-Dragon’s song, “Crooked.” With a smile, she watched Jimin dancing. Because he took care of her like he was the older brother, she often forgot that he was only a year and three months older than her. Moments like these reminded her of that fact. 

All of a sudden, Jungkook’s excited voice announced, “Oh, he rented a bicycle!” 

Wondering who he was talking about, Jessie looked towards the direction that he was looking at and saw Taehyung approaching them on a bicycle with a neon yellow helmet on his head.

“How much was this?” Jimin asked. 

“100 krona,” Taehyung replied as he rode into a circle.

“That’s expensive,” Jimin said in response. “We need money to eat.”

Jungkook walked closer to Taehyung and he slowed down. “Give me a ride.”

Somehow, Jungkook managed to sit behind Taehyung although the bicycle was only meant for one person. The sound of his shoes being dragged against the pavement could be heard loudly as Taehyung started cycling forward. 

“Be careful!” Jessie called out, worrying that Jungkook would fall off and possibly injure himself. 

Jungkook was naturally a curious spirit and it was because of him that the people around him almost suffered through heart attacks on a daily basis. When it came to experimenting and trying new things, it was always Jungkook who volunteered himself. Jessie was sure that he was the bravest person that she knew. Fearless, but also a little careless. 

It was only a couple of seconds later that Taehyung stopped to let Jungkook off the bicycle and Jessie felt like she could breathe normally again. He then allowed Jungkook to ride on the bicycle by himself for a couple of minutes. 

“Do you want to ride it too?” Taehyung asked Jessie from beside her.

“Um,” she started, quite unsure about the idea. The bike looked a little too high for her to feel comfortable riding.

Before she could say anything else, Taehyung called out to the maknae. “Jungkook-ah! Come back! Let’s give Jessie a turn.”

Within a few seconds, Jungkook made his way back to them. He got off the bicycle so gracefully, making his movement appear effortless. 

“Here,” he said as he held the bicycle up for her as she pulled herself over it. 

He seemed reluctant to let go, but eventually did as Jessie started pedaling forward. The handles were a little shaky under her hold as she tried her best to stay upright on an unfamiliar bike, but she managed to continue. 

She looked at the camera and even lifted one hand off of the handle to wave. With a cheerful smile, she yelled, “Wow. This is fun!”

“Hey, hey, hey. Both hands on the bike!” Hoseok warned. 

“Okay, okay!” she called back. 

She rode into circles a few more times before deciding that it was time to return the bicycle to Taehyung. As she came to a stop, the tips of her tennis shoes made contact with the ground, but that was all. Her heart dropped in her chest as she felt herself swaying to one side, unable to reach complete balance with her feet. She couldn’t help but screech as she expected for the worst to come. She pressed her left foot to the ground, hobbling on it to get away from the bike before falling backwards. 

 _Ouch,_ she thought as her butt felt numbness and pain somehow at the same time. Next, Jungkook came into view, staring into her eyes with nothing but concern. 

“Is the bike okay?” she asked. 

Jungkook looked bewildered by her question. “The bike? The bike’s fine. What about you? Are you feeling okay? Are you hurt?” His hands gently touched her legs as if that would get her attention back. 

She shook her head. “No, I’m okay. I’m not hurt.”

He seemed hesitant to believe her, so she pushed herself off the hard surface and began to pull herself up. That was when he got up too, helping her stand up with Taehyung who also joined them. 

“See?” Jessie said, gesturing to herself. “Perfectly fine.”

As if she didn’t need more attention, Jimin heard the commotion and ran over to take a look. “Taehyung, she wasn’t even wearing a helmet,” he scolded and Taehyung bit his lip, feeling bad about letting her ride without one covering her head. 

Jessie quickly stepped in. “It’s not his fault. It’s mine. I should have known better and worn the helmet, but I was being irresponsible. Look, I’m fine. I fell on my butt. Not my head.” When Jimin continued giving her a look, she continued. “Really. I’m okay. I’m just… a little embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed? What is there to be embarrassed about?” Jimin questioned. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“Yes,” Jessie nodded quickly. “I promise.”

“Good. I’m glad you’re okay,” Hoseok stated. “That could have gone so bad.”

Jimin finally smiled, his eyes teasing. “I take my eyes off of you for just a minute and you almost hurt yourself. This is why you need me to be your babysitter.”

“Right. At nineteen years old, I definitely need to be babysat,” she said sarcastically. 

“Taehyung-ssi, we need to prepare to board the train,” a staff member came over and informed him.

“Oh, then I’ll go and return the bike now,” Taehyung told him. 

“Can I come with you?” Jessie asked suddenly. 

Taehyung nodded, unsure of why she would want to come with him to return the bike. However, he agreed because having some extra company sounded like a good idea. 

Because most of the staff members were preparing to board the train, none of the cameras followed the pair as they returned the bicycle and this worked out perfectly for Jessie’s plan. 

“Oppa, do you know where your bag is?”

“My bag? I think I gave it to a staff member earlier… Why?”

A goofy smile formed onto her face. “Because I overheard the staff talking about doing a hidden camera prank on you.”

A knowing smile appeared on Taehyung’s face this time. “And you want me to be in on it, so that it would be a double hidden camera. Right?”

She nodded eagerly. 

“Okay,” he agreed. “What’s the plan?” 

* * *

 Jessie boarded the train first because Taehyung was talking with the staff members about his “lost” bag. When she took a seat next to Jungkook, she used her phone as an escape route just in case she would act weirdly and give away anything. Impromptu acting performances with Taehyung over the years had oddly trained her into a pretty good actress, but she still wasn’t as good and confident at it as he was. Therefore, she was a little bit nervous. 

She hadn’t noticed it earlier, but her palms were starting to sting, so she glanced down and took a look at them. She winced as she realized that her skin had been scraped against the concrete earlier. It definitely hurt, but it wasn’t that bad. She could get over it. Pulling the arms of her sweater downward, she covered her hands with them.

One by one, the rest of the members boarded the train and eventually the news hit them. 

“Guys, Taehyung lost his bag,” Seokjin announced.

“Why do we keep losing our stuff?” Jungkook complained. 

“What happens if he doesn’t have his passport?” Yoongi asked.

Seokjin glanced over at him. “Then he can’t move across the border.”

Taehyung had a serious expression on his face and it looked so real, even to Jessie who knew that he was only acting. For a moment, Taehyung left his seat and Jessie pretended to follow him in order to console him. She knew then that the staff members were inwardly panicking because she was supposed to be pranking Taehyung with the rest of her members and she wasn’t going to be there to find out about it as they revealed the information to the others. What they didn’t know yet was that Jessie already knew everything.

The pair briefly sat with the staff members and revealed that they already knew about the whole hidden camera situation. When Jessie and Taehyung returned to the rest of the members, everyone became silent and Namjoon pretended to call the embassy. Jessie had to try her best in order not to laugh at Namjoon’s fake English dialogue. It was hilarious to see him being so serious about it. Also, it was funny to see Hoseok who was normally quite vocal when it came to members being irresponsible and losing things, being silent and that made it even easier to tell that they were acting—quite bad. However, Jessie and Taehyung were already in on the prank, so it was fine. 

The members were discussing whether to stay with Taehyung or to leave him behind when Seokjin came up with a suggestion. “We should leave him so that at least the seven of us can go.”

“Oppa, how can you say something like that?” Jessie questioned, pretending to be disappointed. 

Yoongi appeared unsettled by her response, thinking that she was being her real self at this moment. “We have an hour, so let’s wait it out,” he suggested this time. 

“We’re supposed to have fun,” Namjoon stated. “Is this fun?”

“Everything went wrong,” Seokjin sighed. “Fighting amongst ourselves isn’t going to fix anything.”

“Let’s stop talking about this for now,” Yoongi added. 

Jungkook tried de-escalating the situation. “Let’s get back to filming.”

“Taehyung, what are you going to do?” the staff asked.

The member acted by putting on a scoff. “I just don’t feel good right now.”

“Then you don’t want to continue with the shoot?” Seokjin questioned.

“You want to continue with the shooting now?” Taehyung asked with disbelief. 

“We’re saying we should forget about this and continue with the shoot,” Seokjin said, his voice a little louder. 

“I mean, are we really filming now when you’re making me feel horrible?”

“You’re the one who lost the bag. Why are you getting mad at us?” Seokjin asked.

“Because you’re being mean to him,” Jessie defended. “Imagine how bad he feels right now. It doesn’t help that you’re all blaming him.”

“Who else should we blame though? _He_ lost his bag. Not us.”

“Do you want me to go home then?” Taehyung asked, glowering. 

“Yeah, Just go then,” Seokjin said.

“I will.”

“Fine. Go. Have a nice trip.”

“Sure.”

“I can’t believe you guys. If you’re all acting like this towards him, then I might as well go home too,” Jessie added while standing up and crossing her arms.

Before she turned her back onto her members, she noticed a few of their individual reactions. They looked nearly horrified and shocked beyond words. Seokjin was a good actor, so he looked upset but she knew that deep down he was probably freaking out. 

Seconds later, Taehyung grabbed his bag from a staff member’s seat and returned to where their members were sitting with Jessie behind him. They were doing victory dances together as their members realized what had happened. 

Hoseok slapped each of them on the arm. “You guys!”

“I knew it as soon as V hyung started talking like that,” Jungkook said, pointing at him. 

"Psh, yeah right," Jessie said, nudging him in the arm. He grinned back in response. 

Jimin grinned. "You gave me quite the surprise.”

“You guys are so good at acting. I was actually really worried that Jessie was upset," Hoseok said.

“You actually believed that I would talk like that to you?” Jessie asked, curious to know.

“Yeah because whenever you get mad, you're never afraid to speak your mind," Yoongi commented.

He was right about that. Although Jessie never liked being put on the spot, her natural instinct was to confront when it was necessary.

“How did you find out?” Hoseok asked.

“I actually overheard the director talking with the crew about the prank earlier and I decided that it would be funny and more dramatic if I told Taehyung oppa, so that we could be in on the prank together,” Jessie explained.

“Wow. PD-nim. You are really going to get an exciting preview for this episode,” Yoongi laughed, looking at the camera.

“That really was some good content. Our fans are going to think that we actually fought,” Jimin chuckled. 

“Until they see all of your guys’ acting,” Taehyung laughed. “It was really bad. Namjoon hyung with his sudden English was okay at first, but he started overacting and he made it so obvious. Oh, and Hoseok hyung was weirdly silent the whole time.”

“But you already know that I’m terrible at acting, guys,” Hoseok tried defending himself. 

For the rest of the train ride, they made fun of each other, but were lighthearted and thankful that Taehyung hadn’t really lost his bag and that Jessie wasn’t upset at them. 

* * *

The rest of the day went by quickly. They visited a waterfall and took photos both individually and as a group with the most beautiful background that they had ever seen. Then, they took the train and the ferry back to their hostel where they had dinner and were slowly preparing for bed. Because it was their last night in Norway, they had to repack their items too. 

Jungkook found Yoongi’s room and looked for his first aid kit. 

“Hyung, do you have the ointment with you?”

“Yeah. Why? Are you hurt somewhere?” Yoongi asked, sounding nonchalant when he actually cared. 

Jungkook was so tempted to say that Jessie’s hands were badly scraped, but he understood why she hadn’t told anyone. She didn’t want her members to fuss all over her. He knew the exact feeling. 

He made up a broad explanation, hoping that Yoongi wouldn’t ask him anything further. “Uh, not really. I just want to put some… on my back.”

Yoongi nodded, not really bothering to think that Jungkook was making it up. It was believable. With how much they danced and exercised, it was common to have bumps on their skin due to excessively sweating. 

“Here,” Yoongi said, tossing it to him.

“Thanks, hyung.”

Jungkook then proceeded by entering Hoseok and Jessie's room. The door had been wide open when he had gotten there. He saw Hoseok sitting in the corner of the room applying his skincare and Jessie was on the bed with her attention focused on her phone. She was probably seeing what their fans were up to on Twitter.

Wordlessly, he leaned over the bed briefly to set the ointment on her lap. She took one quick look at it and surprise immediately overcame her. Her eyes shifted over to Hoseok first before looking back at him. The expression on her face communicated what she intended to ask without even having to use any words. 

_How did you know?_

Jungkook shrugged and that was it. 

“Thanks,” she said quietly. 

He gave her a short nod before wordlessly walking away. Maybe he was trying to escape because it was awkward or maybe it was because he was worried that she would feel awkward. Nonetheless, a smile appeared on her lips as she felt warmed by his caring ways. Then, she realized something.

Did this mean that he paid close attention to her? To the point that he had noticed the scrapes on the palms of her hands? She blushed. 

“Jessie, should I open the window?” Hoseok’s question brought her out of her thoughts. 

“Huh? Why?”

“Just asking because your face is a little red. Is it too hot in here?”

* * *

 The next day, the members were officially leaving Bergen and it was as if it was telling them goodbye by providing them with sunny weather.

“The weather is getting better now that we’re leaving,” Hoseok told his observations into the camera, holding it like he was one of those YouTube vloggers. “See you in Sweden.”

“You’re always wearing the same hat,” Jimin pointed out as he passed by behind him. 

“I always wear the same clothes,” Hoseok agreed before noticing Jessie coming down the hall. “Oh, look who it is. Jessie-ssi, you are looking very stylish today.”

She was wearing raw hemmed boyfriend jeans with a white short sleeved t-shirt tucked into her waist. Her long black hair was tied up into a messy bun and the loose strands on each side of her face, resulting from her bangs growing out, were styled with her curling iron. To finalize the look, she had on a black shoulder bag along with black and white Pumas that she had received from their sponsor. 

“I am?” she asked, trying to put away the attention on her choice of clothing.

The truth was that because she was in a much better mood now with her period almost over, she decided not to wear sweatshirts and sweatpants for the remainder of the trip. And to be really truthful, she didn’t want to look like such a slob in front of Jungkook anymore. Normally, she wouldn’t have cared what she looked like in front of him, but now that she actually realized what her feelings were, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking too hard about how he would view her. It was all still new to her and she felt strange about it. 

“Yeah, you look like a celebrity,” Hoseok said with a chuckle. “Oh wait, you _are_ a celebrity.”

Jessie raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know if that was a diss or a compliment.”

Hoseok laughed before slinging an arm around her to bring her into the camera frame. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

She immediately smiled. “I know.”

Taehyung joined them, standing next to Jessie and he waved at the camera. 

Hoseok also waved. “We’ll see you later. Bye!”

“So suddenly?” Jessie questioned.

He laughed again. “Yes, we’re going to be late.”

“Oh, okay then. Bye bye!”

* * *

 “No one left anything, right?” a staff member asked. 

“Right,” Jimin answered for everyone as they walked, huddled together. “We packed everything.”

Jessie warily glanced into the camera. “I’m not going to be too surprised if someone forgot something.”

“Wait a second. I’m not so sure all of a sudden…” Yoongi trailed off with a guilty smile. “I don’t have my iPad with me right now.”

“He keeps losing so many valuable things while we’re abroad,” Jungkook complained before suggesting for him to check his bags.

Yoongi stopped to set his luggage down and he began digging through his bag. After thoroughly checking, he looked up with a face of regret as he realized what he had done. 

“Right… I left it out so that I could carry it with my hands, but then I must have left it…”

“You forgot it? Really?” Seokjin questioned. 

“We can’t go back,” Jungkook said. “There’s no way to get back.”

“I’ll just without it then.”

Jessie knew that Yoongi often composed his songs using his iPad. She couldn’t believe that he had actually forgotten to bring something so important. Not to mention that it probably had a lot of unreleased pictures and videos of them, and maybe some personal information.

“Where did you leave it?” the staff member asked.

Seokjin looked at Yoongi. “At our hostel?”

“Yeah. On top of the table,” Yoongi answered.

Jessie noticed the camera man smiling and Yoongi did too. 

“I know it’s in there,” Yoongi accused. 

Seokjin, who was closest to the man, stepped forward to check his bag. “It’s not here.” 

“Is Yoongi usually this careless?” the staff member asked, obviously still amused for some reason. 

“No, he’s just good at losing big things,” Seokjin answered. “Like a MacBook for example.”

“I never lose the little things though,” Yoongi said as if that made the situation better.

“How can he stay so calm when he lost something?” Seokjin questioned as he started talking to the camera again. 

Jessie felt a nudge in her side and glanced at Jungkook who was holding a tablet in his hands. 

_Wait a second. That’s an iPad! What the-_

At the same time her mind processed the information, Seokjin exclaimed. 

“Ah, what is with you? Why are you tricking your own members?”

At this point, Jungkook was laughing so hard that his inner cackling came out.  

“You almost gave me a heart attack,” Seokjin complained while Yoongi smiled, clearly grateful.

“See. I always have faith that I’ll find my things somehow,” Yoongi said with a smile. He then continued on with lame excuses, such as how he had purposely given his iPad to Jungkook before leaving the hostel. 

“Right,” Jessie said with a roll of her eyes. “And this is the exact reason why I gave you a bag for it on your birthday.”

“I should have brought it with me for this trip.”

* * *

The flight to Sweden was a total of two hours. Once again, Taehyung who had to take a different flight because the other members had come earlier, was separated from the rest of his group. To make matters worse, his flight was apparently delayed as he had informed them in their group chat. Jessie hoped that he’d catch up with them soon because he hadn’t been able to join in with them earlier on in the trip due to his drama filming schedule and now because of these issues. He was missing out on all of the fun. It was always much more meaningful to be with a total of eight members. It was the only way that they could have the full experience. 

As Jessie stepped out of the airport, she was welcomed by the Stockholm weather and she immediately regretted her choice of clothing. It was late May, but it was still a bit chilly. Six of the members were huddled by the exit as the producer explained their next plan without their missing member. They were to decide who would take which route of transportation to their hotel.  

The missing member returned from the bathroom after having left to put on his contact lenses. As  he rejoined the group, Namjoon asked, “Did you hear everything, Jimin?” 

“Yes, I heard everything,” he nodded, although he hadn’t. 

Jessie purposely stood close to Jimin, who didn’t mind whenever she decided to cuddle next to him. She linked her left arm with his and pulled him close. He glanced at her briefly before rubbing his free hand over her arm as an attempt to warm her. He was cold too. 

“We’ve gotten to a decision that it’ll be six vs. one,” Namjoon explained and Jessie immediately understood that he was trying to trick Jimin. It wasn’t new to see the members trying to trick or prank each other whenever they had the chance. 

“Huh?” Jimin let a sound of confusion. 

“You can take the public transit alone while we take the airport bus,” Namjoon added.

“We already split into teams?” Jimin asked. 

Jessie finally broke the good news to him. “Nope, we haven’t.”

“Ah, thank goodness.”

“Here’s the route for the three transportation methods you can take,” the producer stated. 

Namjoon read the options out loud. “It takes forty-five minutes by bus.”

“Oh my God,” Hoseok exclaimed.

“Twenty minutes by Arlanda Express.”

“That’s more like it!” Hoseok said. 

“And forty minutes with a SL public transportation card,” Namjoon read before looking up from the paper. “How do we get there with this?”

“You’ll have to search online and look for the Naver bloggers to find out for yourselves,” the producer answered. 

“Ah,” Seokjin let out a sound of disappointment while Namjoon covered his mouth. 

“Oh my God,” the leader of the group said. 

Next, the members played rock-paper-scissors to decide who was in which team. Jessie decided to go with paper and of course somehow, she was teamed with Jungkook and Hoseok. It was as if fate was going out of its way to tease her. 

Hoseok smiled as he pulled Jessie over to stand in between him and Jungkook. “Nice. We have someone who can speak English,” 

Jungkook laughed. “Yes! We’ve been saved.” 

The second team was decided to be Seokin and Jimin, and so the last team was composed of the remaining members: Yoongi and Namjoon. 

“Let’s have a team representative and decide on which route to take,” Seokjin suggested.

Hoseok, Namjoon, and Seokjin stepped out for another round of rock, paper, scissors. Hoseok came in first place, Namjoon in second, and Seokjin last—not that it mattered because they weren’t allowed to see which route of transportation that they were choosing. Hoseok picked out one of the folded white papers and opened it to read: the airport bus, which was unfortunately the longest route. Yet, it seemed the most convenient. 

Now that the teams were split and assigned to routes of transportation, it was time to split up. 

“Are you feeling confident?” the cameraman who was assigned to them asked, stepping closer to Jungkook.

“Of course,” the maknae answered. “We just need to take bus number 801 and if that goes wrong, we have Jessie to help us communicate.”

Jessie laughed. “I’m sure you guys could figure it out without me.”

“Shall we try?” Hoseok asked, earning an encouraging nod from her. “Excuse me. Only card?” he asked the employee standing beside the bus in English.

“Yeah, we accept only cards.”

“We don’t have card,” Jungkook said in English too. 

“Only money,” Hoseok added.

“You can buy admission tickets inside 7-Eleven.”

Jessie watched the interaction and smiled to see it going well. 

“7-Eleven?” Hoseok repeated to which the man nodded. 

The three members walked back inside and found their way to the convenience store. 

“This is so easy,” Hoseok said looking back towards Jessie. “Hey, we could do this without you here.”

“Okay. Let me just go back home, then.” She pretended to leave, but Jungkook grabbed her. 

Minutes later, they were sat by the bench outside waiting for the bus. 

“It’s here,” Jungkook said with excitement as he stood up.

“Guys, make sure you don’t forget your things,” Hoseok reminded them. 

“Don’t worry. We’re not like Suga hyung,” Jungkook said, exchanging a knowing look with Jessie. 

When they stepped onto the bus, Hoseok had the two youngest members sit next to each other and he sat behind them. 

“This reminds me of those buses that you take when you go back to your hometown,” Jungkook said, thinking of traveling from Seoul to Busan. 

Hoseok agreed. “Everyone, I’m not J-Hope anymore. I look like Jung Hoseok.”

“And I’m Jeon Jungkook,” he said earning a laugh from his hyung. Then he pointed at Jessie. “Oh, and this is my friend, Kim Hayoung.”

Hayoung. That was her middle name and also her Korean name, but usually she was called by her first name, Jessica or its shortened form Jessie. She wasn’t called Hayoung often, so whenever she was, she felt different… And it was a good kind of different. 

“This is what an average traveler in their twenties looks like,” Hoseok added.

Minutes later, their mini camera crew put away their cameras for the rest of the trip. Jessie had her arms crossed as she leaned back against her seat. 

“Jessie, you look cold. I told you to bring a jacket,” Hoseok said. “Should I give you mine?”

“No, it’s okay,” she said, seeing that he was wearing only a light rain jacket. He seemed cold too and she didn’t want to steal it away from him.

“You can wear mine,” Jungkook suddenly said as he zipped down his white hoodie. “It should be warmer.” 

Jessie objected while shaking her head. “No, no. It’s okay. I don’t want you to get cold.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said as he shrugged it off before handing it to her.

She took it from him, through reluctant. “Thanks.”

When she put the jacket on, it immediately felt warm and comfortable. It smelled just like him—clean and soapy. 

* * *

 The trio got off the bus and were greeted by Stockholm’s sunshine. The weather was perfect all of a sudden for how they were dressed, no longer too cold. 

“Are we going in the wrong direction?” Hoseok asked after a while.

“Can I see it?” Jessie asked and he allowed her to take his phone out of his hand. 

“No, the map said it was this way,” Jungkook answered as she made sure that they were following the correct route. “Right?”

“Yeah,” Jessie nodded. 

“Oh yeah. It’s right. There’s a river over there,” Hoseok confirmed as he took back his phone. “I told you, guys. Just trust _meeee_.”

“We did! You were the one who doubted yourself,” Jessie laughed.

“That’s true,” Hoseok agreed. He brightened up all of a sudden. “Hey, let’s take a photo here.”

They were now standing over the bridge where the river existed under them. Jungkook, who had already been walking around taking photos of the scenery, easily snapped a few photos for Hoseok and Jessie. 

“Jungkook, do you want me to take some photos for you?” Jessie asked.

“No,” he quickly shook his head. “It’s okay.”

Jessie almost felt bad for him before remembering that Jungkook always preferred taking photos compared to being in them. Still, she would have to remember to take some for him throughout the rest of the trip. That way, she could send them to his mom. Secretly, she quickly snapped a few photos on her phone. 

“All right, guys,” Hoseok said, ushering the two maknaes forward. “Let’s go now.”

Jessie and Hoseok started discussing how they were going to spend the rest of the day when they realized that Jungkook wasn’t behind them. 

“Jungkook is busy taking photos,” Hoseok said into the camera before looking back again. “Come on, Jungkook! Before you get lost!”

When they made it down to the next street, they started noticing more staff members. 

“The director’s here,” Hoseok smiled. “Which means that we’re almost there. I bet they never imagined that we’d get here so fast. Are we first place?”

“Oh yeah. Are we first place?” Jungkook asked, taking his hood off and shaking his hair. He allowed Jessie to reach up and fix the messy strands for him. “Is it still disheveled?”

She shook her head. “Looks good,” she told him, giving him a thumbs up.

“Are the other members here?” Hoseok asked, his question not really directed to a specific person. 

“Oh, they’re over there,” Jungkook said, seeing familiar faces. “Rap Mon hyung and Suga hyung.”

All of a sudden, Hoseok and Jungkook started running and from where Jessie was, she could see that Yoongi was running too.

“Why are they running?” she questioned as she didn’t even bother to follow them at the same pace. She really didn’t feel like doing running while dragging her giant suitcase with her. 

Jessie caught up with Namjoon, who had been abandoned by Yoongi. 

“Why are they like that?” Namjoon asked her.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Is there even a prize for being in first place?” 

“No,” he shook his head before the two started laughing. 

* * *

 Jessie spent the rest of her day shopping with Jimin, Namjoon, and Yoongi. Not really an enthusiastic shopper and enjoying “eye shopping” instead, she and Jimin looked around the different shops together while the other two members dispersed into their individual routes. 

They reunited later, Namjoon and Yoongi both holding a few shopping bags. Meanwhile, between Jimin and Jessie, the pair only had one bag and it was the one that Jimin was holding. After looking around, they had decided to buy matching t-shirts to keep as a memory of Stockholm.

“I’m starting to get hungry,” Yoongi said.  

“Should we gather the members to eat now?” Namjoon asked.

“Yes,” Jimin nodded. 

“What should we eat?” the leader asked.

“Let’s go to a Korean restaurant. It’s only been a few days, but I’m already craving Korean food,” Yoongi revealed. 

So half an hour later, the seven members were sitting at a large table at a Korean restaurant in Sweden, which Jessie thought was pretty ironic. It seemed like no matter where they went, they always ended up looking for Korean food. 

“Hey, when is Taehyung coming?” Seokjin asked Jimin.

“He took the wrong bus, so our staff had to go pick him up,” Jimin explained. “He should be here soon though.”

“That kid,” Seokjin shook his head. 

“Hey, you know what Jungkook did at the mall today?” Hoseok asked everyone. 

“What did he do?” Jessie asked, curious.

“He set off the alarm.”

“How did he do that?” She looked over at Jungkook who appeared sheepish by her attention.

“He opened an emergency exit.”

“Hyung, stop talking about it. It’s so embarrassing,” Jungkook complained, trying to avoid eye contact.

“Okay, okay,” Hoseok said with a chuckle. “It was funny though.”

“Guys, I have bad news…”

“Oh no. What it is this time?” Seokjin asked.

“I think I lost my passport,” Namjoon announced.

Jessie was so done with her members at this point. When were they going to stop losing important things on this trip? She really hoped that Namjoon would find his passport somewhere at the bottom of his bag. 

“Are you sure you lost it?” Seokjin asked. “What if you left it in your hotel room?”

“No. If there is one thing that I’m sure I remember, it’s the fact that I put my passport in here,” Namjoon stated while gesturing to his bag. 

“Is the rest of your stuff there?” Jungkook asked. 

“Yeah.”

“Everyone, Taehyung is here,” a staff member informed.

While the members were happy to see him and glad that he was safe after being lost for so long, they were too occupied with the concern of Namjoon that they couldn’t clearly express it. 

“Welcome Taehyung,” Hoseok said to him. “Sorry, we should be welcoming you with more excitement, but we just discovered some bad news.”

“Yeah, you’re here just in time to find out that Namjoon lost his passport,” Seokjin informed.

"Oh no. Really?" Taehyung gave him a nervous look. “Ugh. Namjoon hyung!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't get exactly five new comments from posting the previous chapter, but four was still good enough for me :) Thank you SO much for taking the time to read my update and leaving feedback! I think the next chapter will be the last one surrounding Bon Voyage S1, so we'll be moving onto the July 2016 timeframe and so on. If there are any moments/events that you would like to see incorporated into this story, please let me know! I am always open to some creativity (and I do need it a lot at times)! 
> 
> Also, wow~ I can't believe I'm already over 40,000 words for this story... I guess writing longer chapters really helps a lot! AND my love for BTS is preventing me from giving up on this story lol so that's a good thing as well. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and again, I'll see you in the next chapter! I hope to hear more feedback from y'all!


	9. Red Cheeks

It was already a strange start to the morning with Namjoon away from the rest of the group, having had gone out early to get to the Korean embassy as soon as he could. The rest of the members had to continue with their normal plans for the filming of _Bon Voyage_ , so they decided to meet in front of the hotel at 9 a.m. sharp in order to get onto the bus that would take them to Gamla Stan. 

Jessie was doing the “Asian squat” as she waited for everyone to come out, too tired and bored of just standing around. Her thighs could usually handle the strain as long as she didn’t have to sit in that position for more than five minutes. Her left hand shielded her forehead to cover her eyes from the blinding sunlight and she regretted that she had forgotten to bring her sunglasses with her for this trip. What was the point of investing in some good quality sunglasses when she forgot to wear them?

The cameraman shifted his view from her to Hoseok as he suddenly broke the silence. “Where is Jimin?” he wondered as he glanced at his watch for the fourth time within the past ten minutes.

“He’s always late,” Seokjin commented while adjusting his hat. “He takes longer than Jessie.”

Jessie gave him a non-serious glare in response. She wasn’t actually offended by his remark because it was pretty much true. She did take a long time getting ready sometimes because well, her hair was longer and more difficult to dry or style. And deciding on what to wear was always a dilemma for her. But still, most of the time Jimin really did take the longest to get ready.

Yoongi kept his eyes on the hotel entrance as he crossed his arms. “Why isn’t he coming?” Just as he finished talking, Jimin finally appeared. 

“You really take your time, don’t you?” Seokjin teased.

“What took you so long?” Hoseok asked.

Jimin showed him the tickets that he had been holding in his hands. “I was putting all of our tickets together so that they wouldn’t get lost.”

“Oh, good idea,” Hoseok replied, accepting the worthy excuse and being a little more forgiving since they were on a mini vacation and not really an important schedule. 

“Come on. Let’s get moving before we miss the bus.”

The group followed behind Yoongi as he led the way. Jessie trailed behind them in the back as she walked while checking her phone. She had heard Hoseok and Seokjin talking about Namjoon having to miss out on the fun and she had thought of him again, sad that he couldn’t be a part of their other plans. She was checking her phone to see if he had texted her back. To hear an update on his status.  

“You know, you might hurt yourself again if you walk and text at the same time,” Jungkook said from beside her.

Hurt herself again? What was he talking about? Then she remembered.

_Oh… the whole falling off the bike thing._

Jessie briefly raised her head to look at him before thinking of a response. “You make it sound like I’m a total klutz.”

“Well, you are,” he insisted. 

“Yeah, sometimes,” she clarified, indirectly admitting that he was right. “But I can still multitask! Ah!”

Jungkook’s hand quickly wrapped around her wrist, holding her back and steadying her before she could fall over. 

She glared at the curb that she had just tripped over. Her pride was hurt. “Who put _that_ there?” Now was the time to put her phone away into her purse. Jungkook was right. It was dangerous for anyone to be walking and texting at the same time on the streets, but especially for her. 

Jungkook laughed, shaking his head after witnessing her blaming the curb for being where it should have been. “You’re silly. You know that, right?”

She knew that he was saying that to her as a form of affection. “Yeah,” she said in a tone that one would use to say the word, _duh_. “That’s why you love me!”

 _Crap. Why the heck did I just say that?_ She immediately chastised herself. _Could you try to be any more obvious about your feelings for him?_ Jessie was glad that the camera crew hadn’t been filming them in the back because she just knew that someone out there would have taken her words and analyzed them thoroughly enough to discover that she had feelings for Jungkook. 

He gave her a smile in response, unaffected by her choice of words to her relief. Thankfully, he hadn’t thought that her using the word _love_ was weird. It was definitely just her who was overreacting. Still, she really needed to be careful about her word choices… For her own sake. 

“Yeah, definitely. I’m _so_ glad to have a klutz like you as my best friend,” he said sarcastically. “I get to laugh at you every single day.”

“Oh, shut up.” She slapped him on the arm. 

“Ow, that hurt!”

“Oh my gosh. I’m sorry-”

“I was just acting,” he laughed. “As if you could actually hurt _me_. I'm a lot stronger than you.”

"Are you sure about that? You want to feel a real slap from me?" She narrowed her eyes, trying not to break into laughter with him.

There was a pause before Jungkook took off running in order to escape from her “wrath.” Without hesitation, Jessie sprinted after him. After all, they were still immature young adults or just “kids” as the older members referred to them.

“Don’t run, you guys,” Jimin lightly chided them. “You might get hurt.”

* * *

 The members ended up splitting into two separate groups to look around the beautiful old town. Jessie was placed with Hoseok, Seokjin, and Jimin who made the exploration much more active and interesting than she assumed it would be for the other group with someone as chill as Yoongi leading them. 

Jessie and her group started off by getting some ice cream to cool themselves down from the unexpectedly warm, sunny day. Then, they visited the same alley that they had used during a photoshoot that took place two years ago and they ended up taking a couple of new photos to add onto their list of memories. Afterwards, they continued by mostly just window-shopping. It seemed that the shop owners didn’t mind that they weren’t buying anything, but still, Jessie felt bad. In the midst of their many trips of going in and out of stores with empty hands, the four members bumped into a couple that approached them, catching them off guard by asking if they were K-pop artists. 

Feeling awkward about the whole situation, Jessie forced a polite smile onto her face as she stood in the back hoping that her members wouldn’t force her to reply to the strangers who spoke English to them. Seeing people recognizing them in public was always uncomfortable for whatever reason that it was for her. As the caucasian man explained that his friend’s daughter was a huge fan of K-pop, Jessie realized that this couple knew of K-pop but they didn’t know who BTS was. Her awkward smile turned into a genuine one as she watched her members informing them of their team name. It was as if they were promoting themselves all of a sudden. 

“Can we get a photo together?” the man asked.

“Uh, sorry. No photo,” Hoseok quickly told him. 

There were two reasons for this. The first reason being that the _Bon Voyage_ project was still a secret to their fans and the second reason being that if fans saw them taking photos with the couple, they too would request for photos when they saw the members in person and it would become increasingly difficult to say no. To be safe, they would have to reject any photo requests. 

“Important business right now,” Hoseok added.

His ‘important business’ phrase definitely ended up saving them, though it was hilariously strange to say as an excuse to tell them that they couldn’t take photos together. 

“Hey. What the heck is ‘important business’?” Seokjin laughed, nudging Hoseok in the arm after they parted from the couple. 

“I don’t know. They were the only two English words that came to my mind,” Hoseok replied with a laugh too. “It might have sounded funny, but it worked didn’t it?”

“It did,” Jimin nodded with a smile. “I’m surprised. I should use that too.”

Afterwards, Seokjin began questioning Jessie. “Hey, you speak Engish. Why were we the only ones to talk back there?” 

By now, even the fans knew that Jessie was quite the introvert at random times such as these and it was because of this exact reason that Seokjin would take jabs at her. He was only joking of course and Jessie understood where he was coming from. He wanted to toughen her up and see her being more confident with herself, but sometimes he made her feel embarrassed. Jimin seemed to notice the blush on her face because he immediately stepped in to change the subject to something else in case Jessie would end up feeling sensitive and hurt over the issue. Being surrounded by each other for almost twenty four hours a day made the risk of forming misunderstandings even higher. It was important to make sure that everyone in the group got along with each other, even when it came to what would seem like the smallest things. 

Because the two groups were supposed to meet up by noon, the group of four made their way towards the harbor where they planned on meeting.

“Wow. It’s beautiful,” Jimin commented, pointing at the scenery. 

“Look at the view!” Hoseok exclaimed, gesturing to the water. 

“Let’s sit down and rest for a bit,” Seokjin suggested. “We’ve been walking around a lot so far.”

“Okay,” Hoseok agreed.

Jessie’s heartbeat started accelerating as she cowered away from the seagulls that flew a little too close to her head for her liking as she sat down. Normally, she didn’t mind seeing birds flying free in nature’s enrapturing beauty, but when there were too many seagulls clouding the sky as they did now, it was a little terrifying. 

“I want to feed the seagulls. Will they come if I do this?” Jimin raised his hand into the air.

“What if they come and attack us?" Jessie asked with worry. If she hadn’t looked so concerned, she was sure that her members would have laughed at her silly question. 

“It’s okay. What’s there to be scared of? These guys are harmless,” Seokjin said to her while handing a jelly to Jimin to try and feed the birds. “I tried feeding them in Bergen, but it didn’t work. They won’t come.”

Still, Jimin tried. “Take it. I won’t look,” he said to the birds. 

“They could eat your hand,” Hoseok said in dry humor, but Jessie wondered if they really could with an inward shudder. 

After a whole minute of trying and failing, Jimin gave up. He himself ended up eating the jelly instead. Finally, he joined Jessie by taking a seat next to her. 

“Ayo. What’s up?” A familiar sounding deep voice alerted her that the rest of the team had come to join them.

A minute hadn’t even passed when Yoongi suggested for them to leave. “Come on. Let’s go grab lunch.”

“But we just got here,” Taehyung pouted.

“Aren’t you all hungry?”

“Yeah, I’m hungry,” Jungkook answered. 

“Of course you are,” Jimin replied while ruffling the maknae’s hair and in response the youngest immediately fixed his brown locks. 

“I’m hungry too, actually. What about you, hyung?” Hoseok glanced towards Seokjin.

“Yeah, me too. Let’s go eat then.”

Reluctantly, Taehyung followed after his members. 

“I want to eat duck meat,” Yoongi suddenly said, looking at the ducks as they floated in the water. 

“After seeing them?” Taehyung asked in disbelief. 

“How can you see a duck and say that you crave meat?” Hoseok questioned.

With a chuckle Yoongi replied, “I’m a realist.”

Jessie had been listening to the conversation when Jungkook’s hand suddenly brushed against hers. She subconsciously moved her hand away. 

"I've been meaning to ask. How's your hand?" Jungkook asked, his voice low enough that the others couldn’t hear. 

“Good,” she quickly said. It had stung the day before, but today she had barely even noticed it. "I’m sure it’s going to heal fast. Thanks for the ointment again."

He shrugged as if it was no big deal. "It was Yoongi hyung's."

"Which reminds me,” she said as she dug through her purse. “Here. I should give it back to you so you can return it to him if he asks."

He raised an eyebrow. “You kept it in there?”

“I didn’t want to forget,” she quickly said as she placed it in his hand. He easily put it into his pocket and Jessie randomly wished that more women’s pants could be made with pockets big enough to actually fit things in. “Thanks for keeping it a secret by the way. They would have gone all overprotective brotherly mode on me if they had found out-”

"Jessie-ah. What do you want to eat?"

Oh. There was that question again. The one question that she disliked being asked. She was thankful that her members cared enough to ask for her input whenever it came to group decisions, but to someone who could be so indecisive at times, such a broad question didn’t work. 

“Well, what do you guys want to eat?” she responded with her own question. 

“Hey, I asked you first,” Seokjin countered. 

“Should we go to the place we ate the last time we were here?” Yoongi asked and Jessie knew that he had only suggested it to bring her out of her misery. Also, to save them time. 

The members began nodding in agreement and started making their way towards the restaurant. 

"You keep checking your phone,” Jungkook pointed out, almost as if he were curious to know who she was talking to.  

She didn’t understand why he was doing that. It wasn’t like she ever texted anyone he didn’t know in the first place.

"Yeah, I’m just waiting for Namjoon oppa to reply,” she revealed and Jungkook visibly relaxed. “I'm just worried about him. I really want him to be able to spend the rest of the trip with us, you know?"

With a sigh, he admitted. "Yeah. Me too.”

* * *

 “Hyung, you and Hoseok hyung danced out there two years ago,” Jungkook said with a big grin as the members headed inside the crowded restaurant. 

“We did?” Jimin asked distractedly. “I don’t remember.”

“I believe you do, but your mind is probably repressing your memory of it,” Jessie commented, trying to sound serious when she was smiling the entire time. 

“Which makes sense because you were so embarrassed,” Jungkook laughed.

For the next few minutes, Jessie along with the rest of the group were occupied by looking at the menu. The waiter had come by only to leave right away after determining that everyone needed more time to decide on what to order. A minute later, Jessie was pretty sure of what she wanted to eat and finally glanced up from the menu to see what the others were up to. 

“Where did Jimin and Hoseok go?” Jungkook asked. 

“They went outside,” Jessie who was always observant, answered. She had noticed the two members leaving a moment ago with a camera man, but had no clue what they were up to. 

A moment later, the two members returned. Both of their faces were slightly red as if they were embarrassed. 

“What happened?” Jungkook asked in curiosity.

“We made a deal. We danced out there so that the staff can pay for what we eat,” Jimin answered with a laugh. The look that he had on his face revealed that he couldn’t believe what they had just done. 

“You mean you guys just did the ‘K-pop dance in public’ challenge?” Jessie asked with a huge grin on her face. 

“Huh?” 

“It’s a thing,” Jessie explained to him. “A lot of international K-pop fans do it. They cover K-pop dances in public.”

Jimin smiled. “Oh really? You need to show me this later. I’m curious to see what it’s like.”

It wasn’t too surprising that he didn’t know of it. Most of the videos that he saw were in Korean and K-pop public dancing videos were typed in English with many international fans doing it. In Korea, the concept wasn’t really familiar. Occasionally seeing dance crews busking on the streets was as close as one could get to something like that. 

“I’ll show them to you tonight,” she promised. 

“So are our meals really being paid for?” Jungkook asked the staff and they nodded while giving him their credit card as proof. 

“I was so embarrassed,” Hoseok said. “But it was worth it for this.”

Throughout their trip, they had been saving money based off the “allowance” that they had received to use. It was going to be nice to not have to think about how much they could spend for at least this one meal. With the size of their group, it was inevitable not to eat a lot. 

* * *

 The members went on a cruise later that day to get to their next destination, which was Finland. After claiming their beds, they went outside to the lower deck. The wind blew viciously and Jessie had to tie her hair back because it kept getting into her mouth and all over her face. 

Hoseok, Jimin, and Taehyung were in a good mood and they danced around freely, not caring about how they looked. The other people on the deck watched them with amusement, probably wondering why they were being followed by cameras. 

One by one, the staff members gathered in front of them. “We’re going to prepare drinks, but we’re only giving them to you if you dance.”

 _Oh no. They’re making us dance in public?_ Jessie wasn’t looking forward to it. 

Without hesitation, Namjoon started dancing to “Fire” and Hoseok followed in his steps with Seokjin following them. Taehyung was next to start dancing and then Jimin did too. Yoongi had picked the right moment to use the bathroom because he didn’t have to be seen doing this. 

As the five members put their energy into the dance, the staff members announced, “We need one more member to join in on the dancing.” They weren’t giving in so easily. 

Jessie glanced over her shoulder and saw Jungkook had turned his back on his members in embarrassment. Deciding ‘why not?’ since she wouldn’t be dancing alone and her members were already super into it even when they looked outrageous, Jessie became the last one to join them. Somehow, the group managed to look synchronized even without any music playing in the background. This was evidence that they had practiced too hard.

Minutes later, the staff returned with drinks in hand.

“I can’t drink beer,” Taehyung said. “Can I get Coke?”

For the purpose of aesthetics, Jessie presumed, Taehyung still had to hold up a glass of beer as the group said, “Cheers!” Afterwards, he was able to exchange the beer with his favorite carbonated drink. 

Jessie took a small sip of her beer and wondered how in the world she was ever going to finish the rest of the huge glass. She personally was not a fan of alcohol; she just wasn’t accustomed to the taste, especially beer. She could only endure it with fried chicken or maybe barbecued meat, which they did not have at the moment. Even then, she couldn’t drink more than half a glass. She had only tried drinking maybe four or five times since she became of legal age in Korea and every time her face had gotten very red. It wasn’t even cute as it looked when Korean dramas showed their female leads with bright pink blush to make it appear as if their character was drunk. When Jessie’s face became red from alcohol, it wasn’t a look for her and she didn’t really want to show that side of her to their fans. 

Her members came to her rescue when they finished her drink for her. Although Jungkook was the “baby of the group,” he was a strong drinker and he along with Jimin and Seokjin often drank together. They probably had the strongest tolerance for alcohol in the team. Their faces didn’t even get red when they got drunk. Meanwhile, there was Hoseok who was starting to look like a tomato. 

* * *

 Jessie woke up after a long nap, feeling like she had overslept by a lot. She saw Seokjin waking up Jungkook too who was in the bunk beside her. 

“Jungkook, wake up.”

“How long did I sleep?”

“Two hours.”

“What? It felt like five minutes.”

The room became crowded as more and more staff members shuffled in. They were there to explain that this would be the last moment with Namjoon for the remainder of this trip. The BTS members had kept joking about Namjoon losing his passport rather than facing the possibility of what would actually happen to him because it was the only way that they could overcome the depressing reality. But now, they discovered that he was really leaving to return to Korea and it would have to be very soon.

As embarrassing as it was, Jessie felt tears escaping from her eyes which she couldn’t control. She hated goodbyes no matter what.

“What? Is this girl actually crying?” Seokjin questioned, surprised.

“Why are you crying? It’s not like we’re saying bye forever,” Yoongi said with a look of disbelief. 

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” she confessed as she wiped her tears away with her sleeves. “I’m just sad I guess.”

“Aw, Jessie,” Namjoon said, pressing his hands to his chest before wrapping an arm over her shoulders. “I’m so touched. You’re really gonna miss me?”

She nodded. “But she’s not gonna miss your snoring,” Hoseok said. 

“Oh, we won’t miss that,” Yoongi added with a laugh. 

Suddenly, everyone erupted into laughter, although there was a source of bitterness still lingering in the air.  

Namjoon chuckled. “I’m sure you guys won’t miss that at all. Anyway, this is it for now... I’ll see you all in Korea,” he said lastly to the camera. 

* * *

The next day, after a long six hour drive, the members reached the camping site in their RV. Although they were still bummed about Namjoon being unable to be with them, their excitement about camping made them feel happy again. 

Jessie looked into the camera as she tiptoed around the oldest member. “Usually the maknaes are supposed to grill the meat, but oppa is being nice and is doing it for us,” she whispered, only because it had suddenly gotten quiet outside. The others were in the RV and the conversations were happening there. 

“I’m sorry. I thought you just said that I was nice, but I couldn’t really hear you well,” Seokjin said. “Could you say it again please?”

“No can do,” she replied, wagging her finger. “I can only compliment you once.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.”

“Fine then. Let’s make a deal. I’ll let you try a piece of meat if you repeat after me.”

“Hmm,” Jessie pretended to think long and hard, playing along. “Deal.”

“Seokjin oppa, you’re so kind,” he said in a voice that sounded like he was admiring himself. 

“Seokjin oppa, you’re so kind,” she repeated. 

“I’m always grateful to have you in my life.”

“I’m always grateful to have you in my life.”

“You’re my favorite member of BTS.”

“You’re my... favorite member of BTS.”

“Here,” Seokjin, who was clearly satisfied, gave her a piece of marinated beef. 

“You do realize that she sounded like a robot repeating what you said, right?” Yoongi asked as he stepped outside.

“Who cares?” Seokjin shrugged. “I made her say that I was her favorite member.”

“But did I mean it?” Jessie asked while chewing on the soft meat.

“Of course you did. If not, you had better spit out the meat I just gave you.”

* * *

Around 2 a.m. the members started preparing to go to bed. Jessie returned to the RV with her long hair now wet from taking a shower. After putting her stuff away, she decided to climb up to where she would be sleeping for the night. Jungkook and Hoseok were already laying down. Seokjin would be sleeping here too and since he was older than her, it would be the right thing to offer him the spot by the wall, which meant that she would have to sleep next to Jungkook, in between him and Seokjin. Trying not to make it into a big deal, Jessie tried her best to feign nonchalance as she laid down next to Jungkook. 

“Goodnight,” Taehyung called out. 

“Goodnight!” the three other members replied. 

“When Jin hyung and the others come, should we do a hidden camera prank?” Taehyung asked. 

“You want to act again?” Jungkook asked. He suddenly pretended to let out a sigh in annoyance. “I told us to be careful.” He broke into laughter immediately. 

“No. Let’s not do it,” Hoseok laughed too. “Jungkook and I are really bad at it.”

“Let’s try it,” Taehyung suggested. 

“And do what? How would you want to do it?” Hoseok asked, wondering if Taehyung actually had a plan. 

“Let’s just sleep,” Jungkook said. “We’ll never get them to fall for it.”

“Yeah. They won’t _ever_ fall for it,” Hoseok added. “It shows when we start acting. The tone of our voice changes.”

“The _air_ changes,” Jungkook laughed. “We can’t do it. We have to sleep now anyway. Sleep as much as we can.”

Jessie knew Jungkook was right. It was already past two in the morning and they were supposed to wake up by seven. She groaned just at the thought of it. All of a sudden, ‘Save Me’ started playing from Taehyung’s phone, the familiar tune of the intro loudly breaking into the brief silence. 

“‘Save Me.’ Good choice,” Jungkook said, his voice sounding almost half asleep now.

The rest of the members returned too after their showers. “How do I turn on the light?” Jimin asked as Taehyung stopped the music. 

“There’s a switch to your right,” Hoseok informed him. “Isn’t the bathroom nice?”

“It’s so nice and the water is so warm. I didn’t want to leave,” Jimin replied. “Gosh. I don’t know how many days I’ve worn this black shirt.”

By now, everyone had worn the same outfit at least twice. It was what happened when they didn’t pack sufficiently for a vacation. But then again, _Bon Voyage_ had caused the members to give up on their images entirely. Who cared about what they were wearing anymore? 

“I was very happy today,” Taehyung announced. 

“Me too, but it’s sad that Rap Mon hyung wasn’t here,” Jungkook added before pretending to snore. “If he was here, we’d be hearing that already.”

“That’s so true,” Jessie laughed. 

“What is that? Is Rap Mon here?” Seokjin asked, pretending like he was surprised. His voice sounded louder in Jessie’s ear and she knew that he was about to join them. 

“Jin hyung is grabbing my neck to climb up,” Jungkook said, laughing. 

“Ow. Be careful of my hair,” Jessie complained as Seokjin accidentally pressed on it.

“Oh, sorry,” he apologized as he carefully settled in beside her. 

“Jimin, turn off the light,” Hoseok requested.

“We have to say bye to the camera first,” Jimin said. “Goodbye!”

“Goodnight. I’m going to sleep,” Seokjin said, waving to the camera that was set by the top corner. Jessie looked up to wave at it too.

“It’s too cramped,” Jungkook suddenly complained. 

“I can’t stretch out my legs,” Hoseok added. 

“Jungkook said that five people could sleep here,” Seokjin replied as he too realized how small the space was. “What happened, Jungkook?”

“That’s a good question,” Jungkook said, his voice trailing off. “It’s because of you, hyung.”

“You mean my broad shoulders?”

Jessie and Seokjin started laughing together, their squeaks sounding almost similar.

“I’m turning off the light now,” Jimin said and with one flick of the switch, the RV turned black.

“Goodnight,” Hoseok said.

“Such a beautiful night,” Jungkook said in English. 

With the seven of them sleeping in the same space, Jessie thought back to the earlier days of when she had first started training with them and before when they had lived in a small apartment, crammed together. She was thankful that nothing had really changed. Her members were still the same humble people that she had started working with in 2013 and she knew that it was thanks to them, that she was able to stay grounded. Even now. 

* * *

 “Guys, let’s get up,” Hoseok’s loud voice woke Jessie up. “Jungkook, watch your head.”

Jessie felt the warmth on the left side of her body vanishing as Jungkook rolled away from her now that Hoseok was no longer beside him. As she opened just one eye to prevent herself from being traumatized by the sudden daylight, she saw that her hands were folded and pressed against her stomach and she felt glad that she hadn’t accidentally snuggled into Jungkook while she slept. That would have been embarrassing. 

“I’m going to go wash. Are you coming Jungkook?” Hoseok asked. 

“Yeah… I’m coming,” Jungkook replied, but it seemed like he wasn’t going to be moving anytime soon. 

“Can I sleep for just ten more minutes?” Jessie asked, letting out a groan at the end of her question. She rolled herself towards her right and shifted her body enough to rest her head onto Seokjin’s stomach. He didn’t even move in response and she realized that he was still deep asleep. 

“No, you can’t,” Hoseok said with a laugh. “Come on, Jessie. We have to leave by 8 o’clock and we still have a lot of cleaning left to do from last night.”

“Okay,” she said, groaning again. 

“Could you wake up Seokjin hyung?”

“I’ll try.”

* * *

After a morning of biking around with their Finnish tour guide who showed them Rovaniemi, the official town of Santa Claus, the members went out for what would become their last lunch in Finland. To mark the last event of their entire trip, they decided to wrap up with experiencing the sauna.

Jessie was glad that her period was officially over. She didn’t want to be left out on something that would be so relaxing. The members found themselves sat in the sauna with their bathrobes. They were playing a game to determine who would have to step into the cold water outside. Someone would say something like, “The person with long hair, fold your finger” and whoever had long hair would have to put their finger down. The first person who didn’t have any fingers “left” would be losing the game.

“Kim Taehyung. Put it down,” Jimin started.

“Okay. Let’s go for it. BTS, put it down,” Hoseok said.

“Person with their head tilted forward, put it down,” Jungkook said, meaning Seokjin.

“Short hair, put it down,” Jessie said with a smirk, watching everyone except for her putting down a finger. 

“Our maknaes are mean,” Seokjin complained. 

“Person with the parted hair in the middle, put it down,” said Taehyung and Jessie had to put a second finger down.

“Black hair, put it down,” Yoongi said and Jessie had to put down another finger. 

“If your last name is Park, put it down,” said Seokjin.

“Person touching their ear, put it down,” Jimin said next.

“Oh, so you’re targeting me?” Taehyung asked as he put down another finger. 

“To make it fun . . . Jessie, put it down,” Hoseok said, catching Jessie off guard.

“No,” she whined as she reluctantly put down her fourth finger. 

“So now we have Jimin hyung, Jessie, and V hyung with one finger left,” Jungkook made sure to confirm as he observed the situation. 

“Yes. So I guess it’s up to the maknae’s decision now,” Hoseok announced with a smile of anticipation.

Jessie looked at Jungkook with a puppy dog face. For a moment, she was worried that he would actually make her go into the cold pond. She didn’t want to use the “I’m a girl” excuse because she hated that, but in a situation like this it would be nice to feel some sort of chivalry. 

“95 liner, put it down.”

Jessie immediately smiled as she did a small victory dance. “Thanks, friend,” she said, the word surprisingly coming out of her mouth easily after days and days of struggling with her feelings for her supposed friend. 

“There are no alligators in here, right?” Jungkook asked, speaking loud on purpose as if that would scare his hyungs. “There aren’t any crocodiles, right?”

“Hold hands as you go in,” Hoseok reminded the two 95 liners.

“Are they actually going in?” Jungkook asked with excitement. 

“Don’t go in too quickly. Just in case,” Hoseok said, a little worried now that it was really happening.

“Hyung, you might get a heart attack,” Jungkook added.

“There are rocks in there, so I won’t just go in,” Jimin said.

“Go in slowly,” Jungkook and Hoseok each said.

Jessie thought it was ironic how they were the two members who had been so excited to get Jimin and Taehyung to take the punishment, yet here they were worrying about them. 

Taehyung joined Jimin by the pond after changing into his striped t-shirt.

“We’ll throw you a tube if it gets dangerous,” Seokjin said.

“Please include the scenery. This is beautiful,” Hoseok said to the cameraman. 

“Let me just dip in my foot,” Jimin said.

“I think it’ll be really cold,” Jungkook warned.

Jimin let out a nervous laugh as he pulled his foot back from the water. “We’ll say something each before going in,” he said.

“Go up to your chest and then dunk your head in,” Yoongi said.

Jimin and Taehyung stood holding hands when all of a sudden, the camera director bravely entered the pond. He received an applause as the members expressed their surprise. 

“I’m starting to feel okay with this now that our director went in,” Taehyung said with a smile. 

“I hope that our friendship lasts forever,” Jimin said. “And let’s make it big, BTS.”

Jessie cheered alongside the other members as they repeated the last phrase.

“Let’s go,” Jimin yelled as he led Taehyung into the water.

Jessie felt cold just by seeing the two members dunking their heads in. She heard Hoseok laughing loudly as he clapped for them. 

Afterwards, Jimin and Taehyung went into the hot tub immediately, letting out sounds of relief as their bodies warmed up. “It’s not too bad. You should all try it.”

“The game starts again,” Jungkook said as he followed Jessie back into the sauna. 

“Let’s play 3, 6, 9,” Seokjin suggested.

The sauna started heating up again and it was hotter than the first time. Jessie had to breathe into her towel for the first two minutes. 

“It’s starting to smell like sweet potatoes in here,” Seokjin said and a weird expression appeared on Jessie’s face in response. 

In Korea, there were a lot of games that could be played and Jessie was still unfamiliar with many of them and that included 3, 6, 9. So it was no surprise that she ended up becoming the loser.  

“Do I really need to go in by myself?” she asked.

“Why don’t you pick someone to go in with you then?” Hoseok suggested.

“Hey, speak for yourself,” Seokjin said with a laugh. 

“Well, who doesn’t mind going in?” Jessie asked, not wanting to force someone to go in with her.

“I’ll go,” Jungkook volunteered himself.

“Oh. Look at our cool maknae,” Hoseok said with a big smile.

“How nice. Our two maknaes going in together,” Seokjin said with his usual ajusshi tone. “You guys are creating some great memories here today. Say something before you go in.”

“Um... Thanks for volunteering to go in with me, Jeon Jungkook!” Jessie yelled earning laughs from the older members.

“That’s it?” Seokjin questioned. 

“Best friends till we die,” Jessie added.

“Yeah! Maknaes, fighting!” Jungkook yelled. 

Jessie let out a shriek as he pulled her into the pond, letting go only when the water was up to their chests. It was too cold to even say anything. Jessie dunked her head in before quickly making her way out with Jungkook behind her. 

“Oh shi-” Jessie stopped herself before she could accidentally use a “bad word” on camera. She didn’t swear often and when she actually did, it was only when it was seriously necessary like now when she was freezing cold. But still, she had to remember that they were on camera and filter herself. “It’s so cold!” 

She nearly threw herself into the hot tub. There was a splash as Jungkook actually did jump in.

A few minutes later, Seokjin and Hoseok took a trip into the cold water too before everyone made their way into the hot tub again. Now the members were about to play rock, paper, scissors to decide who was going to dive off the dock and into the pond.

“I’m out,” Jessie said as she chose not to do it again. 

In the end, Yoongi was the loser but the director informed them that the pond was too deep. So he ended up swimming in the shallow area where they had gone in earlier. The last part of filming ended in the hot tub again where there were bubbles suddenly forming. 

“How was the sauna?”

“It was great,” Jungkook answered the director’s question. 

“It really was,” Hoseok agreed.

“Is this turning into a bubble bath? What’s going on?” Jessie asked as she allowed Taehyung to create a beard on her face with the bubbles. 

“The reason why there are bubbles right now is because I put too much fabric softener,” Jungkook said with an embarrassed smile. 

“Are we being washed right now?” Hoseok questioned and Jessie bursted into laughter from witnessing the hilarious scene that was occurring. 

She fell into her usual habit of hitting the person closest to her when laughing and that victim happened to be Jungkook. His eyes crinkled as he laughed with her and in that exact moment, Jessie didn’t mind that she liked him without him knowing. She was happy with who she was and where she was. She was totally content being right there at this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh. Finally an update after nearly two months! I have to be honest with you. It was so hard for me to finish writing this chapter for some reason. I think it might have been due to the fact that I wanted to stop writing about 'Bon Voyage,' but I didn't want to abruptly wrap it up either. I'm glad that I was able to pull through and finish it though. Now I'll get to write about new things in the next chapter and you know, create more problems and drama for Jessie because that's what life is all about (sometimes).
> 
> I love reading comments by the way. Thank you so much for your interest in this story! It's the only thing that makes me want to keep writing. 
> 
> Balancing school and work is always hard, but I'm going to try watching less Netflix and write more in my spare time! So hopefully, I'll post the next chapter sooner than I did this time. 
> 
> Once again, thanks for reading! :)


	10. The KCON 2016 LA Incident

Who would have thought that visiting home could ever feel so unfamiliar? Jessie certainly hadn’t. She shifted her fingers nervously over her lap as she carefully peered outside, trying to take in and get used to the view of her father’s new home. However, it was hard to stay focused on the scenery with her members “ah” and “ooh”-ing from behind her. Just like her sister had mentioned over their most recent phone call, the new house was huge. Weren’t people supposed to downgrade when they were getting divorced? But then again, her father wasn’t living by himself. He was living with his new girlfriend...

Jessie still felt uncomfortable associating the word ‘girlfriend’ with her own father. Sure, he was allowed to be with another woman now that he wasn’t a married man anymore, but this was her dad. It just didn’t feel right for some reason. The only woman involved with her dad had been her mom, so this kind of change was going to take some time—or actually, a very long time—for her, especially when she had been in South Korea all this time in comparison to her sister who was seemingly adjusting well to the changes.

“All right, guys. We’re here.”

Seokjin had already gotten out of the van when Jessie finally started to move. Even Yoongi who was usually slow to get out of the car had gotten up, waiting for her to step out so that he could follow after her.  

Before she could continue worrying, Sejin announced that he and Eunha would be returning to the hotel, the one that most of the idols and staff members were staying at for the KCON weekend. If Laura hadn’t been so keen on having her and the other BTS members staying for a night, they would have stayed at the hotel too. 

"Wow, daebak. We're finally meeting Jessie's family today," Seokjin said in disbelief as he pulled his suitcase up the driveway. 

“I know,” Namjoon nodded. 

“This house is so beautiful,” Jimin said in awe. “I want to live somewhere like this in the future.”

“It’s fucking huge,” Yoongi commented with a laugh due to his amazement.

With how often they had to worry about their language for their fans and the general public, it wasn’t odd to hear him without a filter when the cameras weren’t around. 

“Please do us the honors,” Namjoon said to Jessie, gesturing his hand towards the doorbell as the members stood behind her on the porch. 

Jessie took in a deep breath before letting it back out and it seemed like her members were frozen, wary about how she was feeling. They didn’t know what to say to her other than to pretend as if everything was normal. At least that was because that was what _she_ was doing and they didn’t know any better. Even after being in the same group for three years, still they couldn’t always read her like an open book. They wished they could help her feel better if she was feeling sad or upset, but they knew it wasn’t easy for her to open up about her emotions and they didn’t want to pry into her feelings when she wasn’t comfortable speaking about them. It seemed that the boys all knew about this and decided to stay quiet. 

Jessie didn’t know how to feel anymore other than being extremely nervous. This was supposedly _her_ home too, but really it didn’t feel like it at all. In fact, she felt like a total stranger. 

“Are you okay?” Jimin asked, placing a calming hand on her shoulder.

"I don’t know. I'm a little nervous," Jessie relayed her feelings, biting her lip. 

"Why? You don't think we'll set a good first impression on your dad?" Seokjin asked, attempting to joke with her. 

She shook her head, having no freedom in her mind to realize that he was only joking. "I haven't seen my dad's new house yet and to think that he lives with his girlfriend whom I have never seen before… it's all just too new for me."

So now they knew. She wasn’t sad or upset about the situation. She was just… uncomfortable. 

"Don’t worry. We've got your back,” Namjoon told her and she nodded, though a little reluctant.

Finally, she rang the doorbell and all of a sudden, loud barking erupted from the other side, surprising her. Had the managers dropped them off at the wrong address?

No, this was the right place.

The door opened and she saw her sister’s face looking like she was out of breath. Behind her a couple feet was a woman in her late forties—Jihyun aka her dad’s new woman—holding onto the collar of a Shiba as it eagerly pawed forward. Since when had her dad owned a dog?

"Shh Junior. Be quiet,” the woman said while making shushing noises, which didn’t stop the dog at all. He looked eager to attack them with love.

"Woah. A Shiba,” Jessie nearly gasped. Her mom had always been against the idea of having a dog, but here he was at her dad’s home. Even this kind of change made everything seem… different. 

"Wow. Did I just hear our maknae cursing?" Seokjin questioned, wondering if he had heard it right. 

‘Shiba’ almost sounded like the F word in Korean. 

"No, I meant there's a Shiba Inu here,” Jessie said, giving Seokjin a look. 

"What? Where? I love them," Taehyung said as he bounced on his feet, growing excited. 

“Hey, Laura,” Jessie smiled, happy to see her sister. Her worries disappeared for the moment. 

“Hey. I missed you.” They shared a long hug. 

“Wow. You two look so much alike,” Hoseok commented with a laugh.

“But I think Laura is prettier,” Seokjin said with a grin to which Jessie agreed, causing him to feel bad even though he had been trying to be funny. 

“They’re both pretty, hyung!” Jimin defended, giving him a slap on the arm. 

“Hello,” Laura, who had a bright pink blush on her cheeks bowed as each of the members came in. 

“Welcome,” Jihyun said with a warm smile. All of a sudden, the woman welcomed her into a hug and for someone who was accustomed to American culture, Jessie was caught off guard. 

She felt awkwardly positioned away from her until she was pushed forward to lean closer to her. With wide eyes, she turned her head slightly to see who had pushed her and of course it had been Seokjin. He gave her a thumbs up and a wink. 

“It’s so nice to finally meet you in person, Jessie. Your dad and sister have told me so many good things about you. Oh, and they’ve totally turned me into your fan! Wow, you’re even more beautiful in person.”

"Oh, thank you," Jessie replied awkwardly once again. She didn’t know if she was just saying that to be nice to her or if she really meant it. 

“Don’t worry about what to call me by the way. Just call me ajumma. I’m old, anyway,” Jihyun winked as she released her. 

“That’s not true. You look quite young,” Jimin complimented her with a sweet smile and she smiled back in thanks.

This was when Jessie was finally able to get a good look at her because Jihyun's appearance had caught her attention. Jessie didn’t know whether to feel disappointed or relieved that her dad’s new girlfriend was surprisingly not a stereotypical young woman as they usually were in Korean dramas when a man left his wife for another woman. Jihyun actually seemed close to her mom’s age, but maybe just a tad bit younger. She looked like she was in her early 40’s, but she could probably even pass for somewhere in the 30’s if she wasn't dressed so modestly in a long sleeved white blouse with long blue jeans. Yet, Jessie could tell just by one glance that this woman was still fashionable. Her hair and make up style was just like one of the Korean actresses.

Jessie felt as if she was betraying her mother. She was supposed to dislike this woman, the person who had broken apart her family, yet she was standing there looking so… likeable. She wasn’t putting on a show, was she? It seemed too hard to believe, how nice she was. 

“Now, now. Let’s get you and your father reunited,” Jihyun smiled, placing her hand on the small of Jessie’s back. She led her to the patio. 

“Dad’s in the back preparing the barbecue,” Laura explained.

Jessie glanced over her shoulder and found that she had lost a few of her members who were absolutely taken away by the adorable Shiba. 

“Appa! Unnie is here!” Laura announced.

Mr. Kim turned around with a bright smile on his face, happy to see his oldest daughter after nearly two years. “My daughter. You’re here!”

Jessie almost teared up as he took her into his arms. Although she was all grown up, she felt like a kid at heart being back with her dad and sister. If only her mom was here too…

 _Ugh, I need to get over the whole divorce. Clearly everyone else has,_ she thought.  

“Why are you so thin?” he asked, worried. 

“I’ve been on a diet,” Jessie admitted.

“Well, you better not be on one today.” Although he didn’t like his beloved child going on a diet when she didn’t need one in his eyes, he understood the harsh reality that K-pop idols had to face. Yet, he wanted her to be able to relax and eat normally at least just for today. “Boys, I can’t believe I’m meeting you all for the first time. I’ve seen you all on TV so much that I feel like I already know you.”

“Oh, then do you happen to know all of our names?” Seokjin asked.

“Of course,” Mr. Kim nodded. “Seokjin, Namjoon, Yoongi, Hoseok, Taehyung, Jimin, and Jungkook.”

“Wow. You even know us by our real names,” Namjoon covered his open mouth with his hand. 

“Of course. You guys are like the seven sons that I’ve never had,” Mr. Kim replied and the boys laughed, appreciating how welcoming Jessie’s father was. “Now, who’s the best at cooking meat?”

Yoongi and Seokjin volunteered themselves to help out with the barbecue. 

“What can we do to help?” Jimin asked, following Jihyun. 

“Oh no, no. Don’t concern yourself with-”

“It’s all right. We’d like to help out with anything if we can,” Jimin smiled reassuringly. 

Jihyun brightened. “Would you like to help me set up the table?” she asked.

“Sure!”

“I’ll help too,” Namjoon said.

Jimin paused. “Hyung, do you really think that’s a good idea? You might break the table…”

“Should we put our stuff upstairs?” Hoseok asked and Jessie finally shifted her attention away from her father’s girlfriend. All of this was still going to take some time getting used to. 

“Oh, good idea. You guys can go upstairs and put your stuff in your rooms. Laura can show you around. Right, sweetie?”

Jessie watched the way Jihyun and Laura interacted with each other. They seemed so… close and it didn’t necessarily feel wrong, but it didn’t feel totally right either. The nineteen-year-old wondered if things really had changed that much while she had been living life in South Korea. This was her family, yet she felt out of place. It seemed like things were going too fast for her, but Laura was already adjusting. It made sense though. Jessie had been gone for so long.

She realized that she wasn’t moving when she noticed Jungkook following Hoseok and Laura upstairs with their luggage. Taking in another deep breath before letting it back out, Jessie grabbed a duffle bag and reluctantly trailed behind them. 

* * *

“Wow, I’m so full,” Seokjin patted his stomach as he leaned against his chair. “I couldn’t stop eating because it was so good.”

Mr. Kim chuckled. “I’m glad to see that you enjoyed the food.”

“It was really delicious, abeonim,” Namjoon told him and the members chimed in with words of agreement. 

A smile appeared on Jessie’s lips. It was cute to hear the members calling him “abeonim” which was the formal version of “father.” Of course that was the only word to call him that would be considered proper, but it still made her happy. It just showed how close the members were to her. 

“Jessie, are you sure you’re not going to eat more?” Mr. Kim asked and all eyes were suddenly on her. 

She nodded her head. “Yeah, I ate a lot,” she replied as he glanced at her with wary eyes. 

“You usually eat more than that. Or you used to, anyway,” Mr. Kim said.

Jimin quickly spoke in response to his words. “She ate on the airplane earlier so she was probably full before dinner.”

“Oh, yeah. She must have had some extra snacks,” Yoongi added.

Jessie was lucky that her members were willing to save her ass. Meanwhile, she could feel Jungkook staring at her from across the table. He had been sitting next to her on the airplane and he knew that she hadn’t eaten a single thing. She didn’t know why she felt so ashamed all of a sudden. Jungkook was her friend. He wouldn’t judge her… Would he? Was that why he was looking at her like that?

Mr. Kim finally laughed after hearing Yoongi’s words. “Jessie hasn’t changed at all, hasn’t she? I remember when she was this little,” he said as he gestured with his hand to show how small she would have been. “She would always find a way to trick me into giving her snacks before dinner and she wouldn’t be hungry enough to eat.”

“I’m curious to see Jessie as a baby. Do you have any pictures?” Taehyung asked with sudden anticipation.

 _Oh no,_ Jessie thought. _Please don’t._

“Of course I do,” Mr. Kim answered with a big smile as he stood up much to Jessie’s disappointment. “They’re in the living room.”

“Um, can we not look at them?” Jessie asked, her face reddening with embarrassment already.

“Why not?” Mr. Kim asked. “You were a pretty baby!”

“Dad, you’re only saying that because I’m your daughter.”

“Psh. Nonsense,” he said, shaking his head. “Come on, boys. Follow me inside.”

“Ooh a look into Jessie’s dark past,” Seokjin commented.

“Hyung, they’re just baby pictures,” Jimin replied. 

“I’m going to take pictures with my phone and keep them,” Taehyung said. 

“Ooh, good idea,” Jungkook responded. 

“Ugh. They’re going to post them on Twitter,” Jessie sighed as she pressed her hands against each side of her face.

Jessie heard the screen door opening as the members started shuffling inside from the backyard. She looked up and saw Laura and Jihyun preparing fruit for desert in the kitchen. Jimin slung his arm around her shoulders and forced her to stand up with him. 

“I’m not avoiding this, am I?”

“Nope,” he grinned. “Come on. It can’t be that bad.”

* * *

Loud laughter erupted as Mr. Kim showed them a photo of Jessie at around fourteen months wearing pink heart-shaped sunglasses. 

“Even then she looked chic,” Hoseok chuckled.

Jessie crossed her arms in frustration as Taehyung and Jungkook took pictures from the photo album with their phones.

“Woah, why is your hair so short here?” Seokjin asked as he pointed at the photo where Jessie was in kindergarten with her black hair cut all the way up to her chin. 

Jessie cringed as she looked at the strange haircut. “Hmm… From what I heard, I accidentally got some gum stuck in my hair so I grabbed a pair of scissors and tried chopping it off by myself… but then I completely ruined my hair… So I was taken to the hair salon and the stylist fixed it, leading to this short haircut as the final result.”

“Yeah, sounds like something that would happen to you,” Seokjin laughed. 

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” Jessie questioned, forcefully bumping her shoulder against his. She was secretly annoyed when he didn’t budge at all from her weak strength. 

“It sounds like you’re still clumsy and get yourself into trouble these days,” Mr. Kim pointed out with a raised eyebrow. 

“Yes, we always have to watch over her,” Yoongi added and a grin appeared on his face as Jessie crossed her arms, shaking her head. They always enjoyed making her feel like a little kid, only because she was their youngest or one of them anyway. 

“To think that this little baby has grown into you is amazing,” Seokjin said.

Jessie rolled her eyes. “As if you weren’t a baby once in your lifetime.”

“You know. To think of it, Jessie was only sixteen—seventeen in Korean age—when you debuted. You boys helped take care of her,” Mr. Kim acknowledged.

“Well, Jessie’s like a real sister to us and we’re all basically a family,” Jimin said with a smile. 

Mr. Kim smiled. “Yes, it’s very nice to see all of you getting along so well. Thank you for taking care of my daughter when I personally can’t,” he said and everyone knew what he meant by that. Because she was busy living the life of a K-pop idol, constantly traveling and living all the way across the ocean, it was rare to see her. He often worried, but to see her with such kind boys made him relax his mind and concerns. 

The members of BTS didn’t get to see their own family members often either, but they would get to visit them much more in comparison to Jessie. That was why they made sure to include her whenever they were parting for a day or two to visit their families. Thankfully, the boys’ parents thought of her as their own. 

“Even when our parents are in Korea, it’s hard to see them so we know it must be hard for Jessie that her family is in the states,” Namjoon said.

“But I feel strong with my members beside me, so you don’t ever have to worry, Dad.”

Without warning, Seokjin fell backwards as he let out a shout. They saw that the dog had bitten into the back of his hoodie and pulled aggressively, causing him to fall. 

“Hey, Junior!” Seokjin complained. 

The members laughed again and the seriousness of their conversation quickly dissipated. Jessie realized at this exact moment that although things had changed here at home, her family had not. Her parents still worried about her and they still loved her. She knew that she hadn’t been able to keep in touch with them as often as she should due to the busy schedules and different time zones, but she decided that she needed to try harder to contact them more often. Or else, she’d just lose touch from them.

* * *

“Who wants to go swimming?” Laura asked with excitement. 

"Me!" Jungkook answered.

"Yeah, count me in," Jimin added.

"Me too. Me too!" Taehyung said. 

Jungkook laughed as this reminded him of the time when they had done a photoshoot and Taehyung had been so eager to finish it so that he could join the others in the swimming pool. He couldn’t believe that this guy was a hyung.

No one bothered asking Yoongi if he wanted to join in on the fun as he wordlessly went up the stairs, probably to clean up and sleep. Then, Seokjin, Hoseok, and Namjoon decided that they too would rather rest than play in the pool. 

“It’s funny how the hyungs are the ones going upstairs to rest,” Jungkook pointed out as he made his way up the stairs with the rest of his members following behind. They were going to have to dig through their suitcases for swimming wear which they always brought when traveling, just in case. 

Jessie walked into Laura’s spacious room, which was painted in a shade of light blue. It was unsurprising because that was her sister’s favorite color. It didn’t take long for Jessie to find her swimsuit from her things. She quickly shimmied through the navy one piece before finally pulling up its red straps over each shoulder. Jessie wore a white short sleeve t-shirt over her swimsuit out of a habit to remain modest based on Korean societal standards. Laura who was wearing a black bikini decided to put on a t-shirt too, following her sister’s actions. 

When the two sisters stepped out into the hallway, they overheard Seokjin asking, “Abeonim. Who’s your favorite member? Not counting Jessie of course.”

“You can’t ask me that,” Mr. Kim complained. “I like all of you.”

“But there must be one person who really catches your eye,” Seokjin said. “Let’s see… Who gave you the best first impression today?”

“Hmm… I think Seokjin,” Mr. Kim finally answered.

Seokjin smiled, giving him a thumbs up. “Wow, abeonim. You have some great sense.”

“Are you happy that he picked you?” Jimin questioned with a grin. “This was what you wanted all along, wasn’t it?”

Jessie wondered what her dad thought of Jungkook. Secretly, she really wanted him to like him. 

“Laura, who’s your favorite member in our group?” Hoseok suddenly asked as he stepped out of the bathroom, his face still a little wet from washing his face. He made room for Seokjin to enter behind him as he waited for her answer. 

“It’s me,” Taehyung said before she could answer. “Right?” He nudged her in the side. 

Laura’s gaze shied away from his as she shook her head. “Nope.”

“Then who’s your favorite member?” Taehyung asked. 

“I’m not telling you,” she answered before running down the stairs. Junior, who loved to be active, followed her immediately.

“But I want to know!” Taehyung called after her, his voice playful. 

“Do any of you want any drinks or snacks?” Jihyun asked, checking once more to see if anyone needed anything else before she went to bed. “We have Cheetos and Doritos in the pantry. Oh, and drinks are down in the basement. There’s soda, beer, wine… Feel free to grab anything you’d like.”

“Thank you,” Jimin said to her with a warm smile. 

“Do you guys drink well?” Mr. Kim asked.

“Not all of us. Usually it’s Seokjin, Jimin, and Jungkook who drink together,” Taehyung answered.

“Oh, so Jungkook is a good drinker too?” Mr. Kim asked, surprised because he forgot that he was of age to drink  in Korea. He and his daughter still looked like babies, whether or not it was because the BTS members treated them as such.

"He's a good drinker,” Jimin told him.

“Oh, he’s a _sanai_ ,” Mr. Kim commented, a phrase that was used often in Korean—meaning a ‘strong man.’ 

"Too bad the drinking age is twenty-one here,” Jungkook said with a grin. Not that he would have wanted to drink the night before KCON anyway.

“I can’t drink here yet, either,” Jimin said to the youngest. 

“What about you, Jessie? Have you tried drinking?” Mr. Kim asked.

“Yup. Me and alcohol do not get along well,” she replied, which caused her dad to laugh.

“That’s not very surprising. You got it from me,” Mr. Kim said to her and Jessie laughed with a nod. “Well, I’ll leave you kids to have your fun.”

“Goodnight,” the members said to him. 

“Goodnight!”

“Don’t stay up too late,” Hoseok reminded the younger members. “We have rehearsal early tomorrow.”

“Got it.”

* * *

Jessie was totally drenched from head to toe. She felt tired from playing too much in the water, but it was the nice kind of exhaustion if that was even a thing. Her nose felt a little sore, probably due to the fact that Taehyung had unexpectedly dunked her into the pool multiple times. She was surprised that he had been more rough with her compared to Jungkook. Even Jimin had to remind him to play nice. But then again, this was supposed to be normal. Taehyung treated her like a younger sister and that often meant that she was treated just like one of the boys, which was unfortunate when it came to things like playing in the pool. 

She wrapped her hair up into a bun before pulling off her shirt that was now sticking tightly to her skin. As she squeezed the water out of it, she looked over to Jungkook and she had to try her best to keep her cool. 

He had been wearing a baggy t-shirt with his swimming trunks earlier, but now he was shirtless. She had definitely caught glimpses of him in this state backstage whenever he was in the middle of changing, but she still wasn’t ready for this kind of exposure. How was he getting more muscular every time she saw him? He was supposed to be the friggin’ maknae.  

She saw the muscles in his back accentuating as he leaned down to reach his towel off the chair. Someone cleared their throat and Jessie quickly looked away. She saw Laura giving her a knowing wink from beside her. Jessie gave her a ‘please be quiet’ look with her eyes before Laura nodded, assuring her that she would never say anything out loud. 

Jessie wrapped the towel over her body before heading inside. _Jeon Jungkook is just a friend. He’s just a friend_ , she repeated in her head.

* * *

It was the second day of performances at KCON LA. BTS had been to KCON before and it definitely wasn’t their first experience of performing at such a bigscale event, yet Jessie felt herself—or her body more specifically—becoming more and more nervous than usual. Sure, she felt nerves and anxiety hitting her before performing on stage, but as soon as the music started, she was usually at home. But of course that was because she felt comfortable around their fans. KCON was different in that case being that it was possible that the audience came to see them or maybe to see the other K-pop groups that were performing. Maybe it was for this reason that she felt nervous. She wasn’t exactly sure. 

As BTS headed towards the stage for their performance, they met Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun from Girls’ Generation TTS. Jessie had met them a couple of times when BTS had promoted on music shows at the same time as the Girls’ Generation subunit, but still she felt starstruck by meeting them. After all, the reason why Jessie had wanted to become a singer had been due to being inspired by K-pop groups like Girls' Generation. 

“Hi, Jessie!” Tiffany greeted her with a bright smile, her eyes turning into the shape of crescents. 

“H-hi,” Jessie stuttered, unable to comprehend that the famous singer whom she looked up to remembered her name. Then, she was even more surprised by Tiffany giving her a hug. 

“Girl, you look stunning,” she complimented her.

“Thank you,” Jessie replied with a shy smile. “So do you. I mean, you guys look beautiful tonight.”

Tiffany was wearing a sparkly red dress, looking elegant and sexy at the same time. Meanwhile, Jessie was wearing black ripped jeans and a white Hawaiian shirt patterned with palm trees. She couldn’t imagine why Tiffany would tell her that she looked stunning. 

“Aww, thanks,” she replied with a small squeal. “We’ve got to hang out more. Us California girls gotta stick together, right?”

“Yeah,” Jessie managed to say. “I mean, that’d be great. I’d love to hang out.”

“Awesome. I’ll have my manager give yours my number,” Tiffany smiled. “Fighting, you guys!”

“Fighting,” Taeyeon and Seohyun added in support, their smiles just as kind. 

“Thank you,” the BTS members bowed as their sunbaes walked away. 

“Did that really just happen? Is this real life?” Jessie asked. “Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany just told me that we need to hang out more.”

“She must want to look after you because you’re a Korean-American like her,” Hoseok said as he adjusted the front of his shirt, tucking it into his jeans better. 

Jimin nodded in agreement. “And you’re both from California. I’m glad that she reached out to you. Honestly, you hang out with us guys too much. You need some female friends too.”

“You know what? I agree,” Jessie laughed. 

“Hey, you. Are you saying that you’re sick of us?” Taehyung questioned as he suddenly put her in a headlock.

“Hey, hey.” Jessie escaped from his grasp, which had been easy because he wasn’t holding tight at all. “You’ll mess up my hair.”

She smoothed out her dark strands of hair which was pulled up into a high ponytail. Her hair was currently chest length, but tonight it was much longer with the added extensions. The long ponytail was a signature look for the “Fire” concept so it was no surprise that the stylist had decided to put this look on her again for tonight’s show, but Jessie wished that they didn’t have to make her hair so long. Her fans and anti fans liked to talk about it since there was already a meme going around that it wasn’t Jessie dancing, but her hair. And honestly, she didn’t mind because it was actually pretty funny. However, her head felt heavier because of it and she suffered from migraines because of the hairstyle. It didn’t help that their choreography was complex and tiring. 

Jessie adjusted her in-ear monitor as their introduction music started playing. When it was finished, Hoseok broke the silence with his line: _“Yeongwonhi sonyeonigo sipeo nan. Ah!”_

Jungkook continued the next part as the chorus of “Forever Young” started. Taehyung, Jimin, and Seokjin took turns walking across the stage in front of the cameraman who was capturing each of them up close during their lines. Jessie joined in with the rest of the members during the chorus repetition when they all sang in unison. The song ended with Jungkook’s last adlib, which sounded so smooth and on pitch, just like the CD version even when it was live. 

As “Fire” started, the members started hyping up the crowd. Jessie could hear the crowd screaming past her in-ears as her heart pounded against her chest with anticipation. At this moment, her nervousness disappeared and she was ready to perform. 

When Taehyung suddenly yelled, “Make some noise” as he had practiced backstage, Jessie almost broke her intimidating expression by laughing. However, she managed to keep her composure as she waited for the beat to drop.

 _“Bultaoreunae,”_ said Yoongi’s voice from the backtrack and then the dancing officially began.

The song went quickly and soon Namjoon had already finished his part. Next, Jessie appeared to the center of the stage to sing her part. She was thankful that her part didn’t require any heavy dancing. It made it easier to sing live. 

She raised an eyebrow as she put on a confident expression. _“Ni meotdaero sareo. Jeonbu nikkeoya. Aesseuji jom mareo. Jeodo gwaenchana.”_ She raised her shoulders twice as part of the choreography before sliding to the left for Jimin to sing his next part. 

Throughout the rest of the song, the stage lights kept flashing for an intense effect and towards the end, it started making her feel nauseous. Over the years she had built her stamina, and singing and dancing at the same time was something that she could hold her strength for during long performances. But all of a sudden, it was threatening to slip away tonight.

Yoongi’s last line, “ _Yongseo hae julkke,_ ” played and then the fans’ screams once again leaked into the members’ ears. 

The lights dimmed as the eight members prepared for their next song, which was “Save Me.” As the instrumental began, Jessie breathed hard, trying to catch her breath at the side of the stage and she could barely even register the fact that it was playing. Taehyung passed on the bottle of water that he had been drinking to her as he prepared to step to the center part of the stage for his lines. She gulped down some water before setting aside the bottle. 

As she found her spot on the center stage behind Jungkook, she recharged and put in her all for the dance break. She could tell that she was slightly off beat and it bothered her because she could clearly see that her movements weren’t in sync with the members positioned closest to her. Her mind was working, but her body wasn’t following. 

 _Just two more songs,_ she tried to calm herself as the song finally ended. Still, she couldn’t ignore the fact that they were only halfway through their setlist, but she was already feeling exhausted. This absolutely terrified her. As someone with anxiety, she was always imagining a million things that could go wrong when she was on stage. So far in her career, nothing really major had happened to her. Maybe a voice crack or two, but nothing like falling and right now, she almost felt like she would. 

The arena had regular lighting now as the eight members stood on stage to talk to the audience. “Los Angeles, are you having a good time right now?” Namjoon yelled into the microphone. He proceeded to their group introduction once the screaming died down enough for him to continue. "Hello, we are-”

“BTS,” the members finished together. 

“It’s nice to meet you. It’s been two years that we’ve been here in LA KCON and it’s so nice to meet you guys. I’m Rap Mon from BTS. I’m the leader of this group." He looked towards the members on his left. "Please say hi to everybody in LA. Each one of us. Starting from J-Hope.”

“LA!” Hoseok yelled into the microphone, his voice echoing as the fans went wild. “I’m your hope. I’m your angel. J-Hope. Nice to meet you. Wow!”

Jessie felt her hands shaking as she stared down at the stage. Not because she was nervous, but because her body was strangely being jittery. It didn’t help that she hated talking in front of huge crowds, not to mention an audience for a large concert. There was a reason why she rarely spoke during their own concerts. 

She was also expected to speak English tonight, which she knew that the international fans always looked forward to. Yet, she felt anxious even thinking about speaking in her native tongue. It was normal for her to be nervous on stage, but she had never experienced anything like _this_ —this weird feeling before. 

“Hey LA. I’m Jimin. Let’s have fun today.”

Namjoon, knowing her fears, placed his hand on Jessie’s shoulder to comfort her as she spoke into the microphone. "What’s up, LA? My name is Jessie! It feels amazing to be back here and I’m so happy to see all of you here tonight. Thank you so much for dancing and singing along with us. You’re awesome and we love you." 

She ended up speaking in a faster pace than she had expected. Her lines had been prepared beforehand and she had a feeling that it sounded obvious from how she had relayed them. Yet, the fans didn’t seem to mind as they cheered her on. Namjoon patted his hand on her back a few times to let her know that she did a good job and Jessie let out a quiet sigh of relief as the big camera was finally off of her. 

“Hello! Nice to meet you guys. I’m Jungkook.”

“Hello, I’m Jin!” He threw his iconic flying kiss and Jessie forced out a noticeable laugh to make it look like she was actually paying attention and not accidentally pulling on another “resting bitch face” when she was just trying to hold onto herself or whatever energy that was left in her body.

Yoongi pulled out his in-ear and put his hand by his ear, signaling the fans to cheer louder for him. “Nice to meet you. I’m Suga!”

“All you guys make some noise!” Taehyung said in English before switching back to Korean. “Hi, I’m Kim Taehyung. It’s nice to meet you.”

“So like I said, we always look forward to when we come to LA because like this city’s where you guys are so hyped. You guys _so_ know how to turn up. Thank you guys. We got a few songs to go. So you guys ready to turn up? All right, let’s move on right now. Let’s go.”

Now it was time for “Cypher Pt. 3,” which was probably one of Jessie’s favorite songs. She was horrendous at rapping, but this never stopped her from following all of the words whenever it played. She tried her best to be energetic throughout the song, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that she was starting to feel dizzy. She glanced down at her fingers which were now shaking and still, it wasn’t because she was nervous. Her body was simply shaking, out of her control. She made up for her lack of energy by mouthing all of the words and walking from one side of the stage to the other. She was sure not many people would notice, especially because the main members of the song were Yoongi, Namjoon, and Hoseok. Everyone was focused on them, unless there was a fancam out there somewhere that was paying close attention to her. Suddenly, she feared everything that was happening to her. 

It was during the last forty seconds that Jimin noticed that something was off. He came to her side, wrapping an arm over her shoulders as he danced with her. He took in the sight of her face, which was extremely pale even through her makeup. She also felt abnormally cold against his hot skin. He led her to the main stage where they would be performing their last song as they finished up the Cypher. He wished he could ask if she was okay, but there wasn’t enough time as the stage lights dimmed again. 

The beginning of “Dope” started as the lights returned. “Make some noise!” Taehyung said once again. 

“ _Ayo ladies and gentleman_ ,” Jungkook started off.

As the members rotated for the beginning of Hoseok’s solo, Jessie cringed as the loud sound of her microphone dropping on the stage thumped into the audio. Jimin remained professional and picked it up from beside his feet and handed it to her swiftly as they continued dancing. 

Thanks to his help, she was able to continue professionally. But it all went downhill from the second chorus when Jessie suddenly collapsed during the middle of the intense footwork. All she could think as she helplessly remained on the cold, hard floor of the stage was how bad this would look for BTS. Videos of it would be everywhere. People would be constantly be talking about her. About how weak she was. About what had gone wrong. 

She pushed herself off the stage to sit up, but it was hard to get herself to stand. All of a sudden, she was pulled into a standing position as Jungkook grabbed her hand. 

She made it just in time to get to the center. _“Ireon ge bangtan style. Geojitmal wackdeulgwaneun dalla,_ ” she sang her part in the bridge before stepping aside for Jungkook, who couldn’t help but look back at her in case she would fall again. It was difficult for any of the members to focus on their performance now with them all questioning what the hell was going on. Was Jessie going to be okay?

As soon as the song ended and the lights faded out, Jungkook stepped forward just in time to catch Jessie as she passed out in his arms. If he hadn’t been there, she probably would have fallen on her head and that made him alarmed. 

Audible gasps were heard from the fans as the lights came on again. 

“Jessie!” Jungkook called her name, but she wasn’t responding. He panicked and so did the others.

“Jessie. Open your eyes. Come on, Jessie,” Hoseok begged, leaning over her.

“Hyung, what do we do? What’s wrong with her?” Jungkook cried out. 

“We need to carry her backstage quickly,” Namjoon said just as the lights turned off again, probably due to one of the staff members realizing how dire the situation was.

“I’ll carry her,” Jungkook offered without hesitation. The members frantically ran off stage with him as he carried her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm FINALLY back with an update! I'm terribly sorry for making you wait. I really tried getting myself to write sooner, but I was suffering from writer's block and I was going through a lot of changes in my life that I had no motivation to finish this chapter. However, now that I only have one final exam left for this semester, I felt more relaxed tonight and decided to continue from where I left off. So here I am at 2:30 a.m., updating this story -_- Gonna be tired as heck when I wake up in a few hours, but it's going to be worth it because I get to share this new content with you. Thank you for reading and I shall see you in the next chapter! :) 
> 
> There should be more Jungkook and Jessie moments coming up in the near future. I'm still trying to develop their relationship so that things don't happen all of a sudden lol (that usually happens in my other stories and it makes everything less climatic so I'm trying things differently here). 
> 
> -Jane


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